Thirteen transportation organizations in BC hit the brakes on diesel; shift to natural gas

Dec 3, 2020

Switching gears to FortisBC’s natural gas drives down costs and accelerates emissions reductions

SURREY, B.C.  ̶  December 3, 2020: Thirteen commercial transportation organizations in British Columbia (BC) continued to progress on their business and climate action goals this year despite the hurdles presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. These companies have adopted a combined 144 vehicles fuelled by FortisBC’s natural gas in 2020.

“BC’s commercial transportation sector accounts for around 40 per cent of the province’s total greenhouse gas emissions each year, so it’s a significant area of opportunity for us to reduce emissions quickly,” explained Sarah Smith, director of NGT, regional LNG and Renewable Gases with FortisBC. “I’m so proud to see these organizations, many of them staple names in their respective industries, taking significant climate action amidst this pandemic.”

The majority of these new natural gas vehicles are now fuelled by compressed natural gas, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 per cent compared to diesel fuel. In total, these organizations are expected to reduce more than 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in emissions annually, about the same as removing just over 430 gasoline-fuelled passenger vehicles off BC roads each year. These adoptions also come with financial benefits, as these organizations are expected to save up to 45 per cent in fuel costs each year. In addition, FortisBC provides incentives to reduce the initial financial commitments associated with adopting natural gas vehicles – in 2020 alone FortisBC provided almost $2.3 million dollars in vehicle capital incentives to customers.

“There are over 900 natural gas vehicles on BC roads today, and natural gas, from compressed and liquefied to Renewable Gas, can make meaningful emission reductions immediately,” said Smith. “But clearly the value extends deeper than that. Adopting these vehicles is also easier on your wallets and we’ll provide incentives to help the transition.”

Advancing natural gas for medium and heavy duty vehicles, from truck fleets to buses, is a key avenue towards FortisBC’s 30BY30 target, an ambitious goal to reduce its customers’ greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030. For more information on natural gas for transportation, visit fortisbc.com/est.

BACKGROUNDER

The thirteen organizations who have adopted natural gas vehicles this year are:

Organization	Number of vehicles adopting natural gas in 2020	Type of natural gas fuelling these vehicles
Ancor Transport	1	Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)
BC Transit	78	CNG
City of Surrey	2	CNG
City Wide Produce	1	CNG
Clark Freightways	3	CNG
ColdStar Solutions Inc.	4	CNG
Disposal Queen	1	CNG
Fresh Direct	2	CNG
Ken Johnson Trucking	3	Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
London Drugs	2	CNG
McRae's Environmental	6	CNG
UPS Canada	50	Piloting bifuel CNG and Gasoline
Yen Brothers	1	CNG

Quotes:

City Wide Produce

“This is our first truck on CNG and we absolutely intend on bringing on more as our company grows. As a company that delivers the most fresh produce for our customers, we also want to green our ecological footprint in a way that would work for our business. Partnering with FortisBC allows us to deliver our produce in the most sustainable manner that we realistically can. I’m proud to say that City Wide Produce is setting both a benchmark for fresh produce and how that produce gets from our warehouse to our customers!”

   - Gopal Gupta, founder and director

ColdStar Solutions Inc.

“We have been running CNG equipment since early 2014 and have been increasing our CNG fleet every year. As of December 31, 2019, we had reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by over 1,800 tonnes. We’re also conservatively saving around 25 per cent in fuel cost.   ColdStar’s CNG program would not exist if it was not for the partnership with FortisBC. I cannot say enough about the support we have received working with FortisBC’s team all these years.”

   - Kelly Hawes, chief executive officer

Disposal Queen

“We currently have four trucks running on CNG now, and will be purchasing more soon. It’s been saving us around 30 per cent on fuel costs, and we’ve noticed there’s less maintenance as well.  FortisBC has been really helpful in recognizing our needs and working with us to find solutions. We look forward to continuing to work with FortisBC to boost our bottom line through adopting CNG vehicles, grow our business and be industry leaders.”

   - Fanny Liang, director

Ken Johnson Trucking

“We currently have three vehicles running on LNG and we’ll undoubtedly be putting more on the road soon. I believe companies have a responsibility to do the right thing, and especially transportation companies should be doing what they can to reduce their total emissions. We at Ken Johnson Trucking wanted to do our part, and we’re glad to work with FortisBC. Their assistance in getting us over that initial learning curve was really helpful.”

   - Ken Johnson, general manager

McRae’s Environmental

“We currently have eight total CNG units running in Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island.   We’re always looking to improve our service and CNG ticks many of our boxes. The trucks run cooler and quieter while reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and fuel costs, reductions which are really important to us and, as we’re hearing often, to our customers as well. Our partnership with FortisBC is helping us further our presence as a leader in our industry. We’re keen to continue to work with FortisBC to further our goals.”

   - Drew Clarke, general manager

 

Media contact