BY J E N N I F E R S T E WA R T
Envisioning the future of Canada’s transportation sector – together
6
JULY / AUGUST 2021
Regulations: The deployment of EVSE is a fundamental need to support the expansion of the electric vehicle market. Yet, the regulations affecting the installation and operation of such equipment remain under-developed and often present an impediment to efficient deployment. This report would provide a summary of regulations in effect at the national level and throughout key provinces and metropolitan markets to help stakeholders better navigate the regulatory procedures and identify where improvements may be necessary. · Market Response to Low Carbon Fuel Standards: Learning from the experience of other markets can be a very valuable tool to assist with market transitions. As Canada prepares to implement the Clean Fuels Standard, an evaluation of how the market has adapted to comply with the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (the most mature program of this type) can provide valuable insights to help government and affected stakeholders more efficiently navigate implementation and identify in advance potential negative implications, allowing opportunities to evaluate mitigation strategies. · Comparative Analysis of Transportation-related Environmental Initiatives: The pursuit of lower emissions from the transportation sector will likely require a mixture of policies and strategies. Understanding the relative effectiveness and costs of different options can help guide policymakers and business leaders to pursue strategies that will yield the greatest benefit to Canada. This project
would evaluate the effectiveness and costs of various initiatives that have been implemented in other markets and/ or proposed as options for Canada, providing a comprehensive assessment of the policy tools that might be available to help Canada reach its environmental objectives most efficiently and effectively. · The Paths to Carbon Neutral Transportation: The transportation sector is comprised of a wide variety of vehicle types and use cases. Reducing carbon emissions from the sector will require a mixture of strategies that address each segment of the market uniquely. For example, initiatives that would effectively reduce carbon from light-duty passenger vehicles may not be as effective for the heavy-duty commercial vehicle market. This project would more carefully identify the various segments of the transportation market, evaluate how those segments are used and determine what carbon-mitigation solutions might make the most sense for each sector. Such an analysis can help right-size solution deployment, accelerate the environmental benefits and reduce the overall costs to the market. We are hopeful that others will join us and become part of this innovative group that is critical to our future as a sector. I was adamant before the pandemic. Now, I am even more convinced that together, our sector has a bright future. We cannot, however, go it alone. OCTANE Jennifer Stewart, president and CEO, Canadian Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (CIPMA)
SHUTTERSTOCK
Just a few months before COVID-19 came to Canada, I remember pitching the notion of the Canadian Transportation Alliance (CTA) as we sat around the board table with our executive team at the Canadian Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (CIPMA). I had a few restless nights spent wondering how, as Canada’s downstream petroleum marketing sector, we could bring together all players in the transportation market, including our sector, renewable fuels, electricity, hydrogen and automotive, and work together to study the future and how we collectively drive down emissions. I had been exposed to the Fuels Institute in the U.S., which does exactly this, with great success and cross-sector collaboration. With board support for the initiative, I was able to tap into the knowledge and experience of John Eichberger of the Fuels Institute to lead our Canadian charge, and thus the CTA was born. We officially launched in May 2021 and have already secured a number of players from a variety of ‘corners’ of the transportation sector to join us. And, rather than acting in silos, we work together to lead research on this sector of tomorrow. The main objective of the CTA is to be a non-advocacy, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that delivers objective, fact-based, third-party research to help educate government bodies, consumers, and business stakeholders on a variety of issues affecting the Canadian transportation market. In essence, the CTA will conduct research that will inform the next steps of government, and, in turn, industry as we all move to reduce our global footprint. Our research agenda will be developed further by CTA members for our first year of operations. This agenda plans to include the following timely and important topics: · Electric Vehicle Service Equipment
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