The 2015 Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, set a goal to limit global warming to below 2C, preferably to 1.5C. Decarbonization is critical to achieving these objectives.

Our client, a road freight transportation company, has come to us looking to decarbonize its operations. Currently, road freight is estimated to account for around 9% of global CO2 emissions. Thus, to contribute to the Paris Agreement Goal, road freight emissions must decline by 60% by 2050.

Our client has already embarked on a project to electrify parts of their fleet, but they want to understand more about the opportunities to use hydrogen fuel alongside the gradual electrification of their hauling fleet. This is where EY comes in.

At EY, research is a large part of what we do. It is important that we ask the right questions to our clients, but also ask the right questions in our research. We often share knowledge from our research amongst our teams so that everyone benefits from new ways of thinking. This task is focused on presenting your research to your internal team before suggesting any ideas to the client.

For this task, you will need to do research. Feel free to use the resources linked below in the resources section, but also feel free to look for your own information on hydrogen fuel for road transportation. The document called "Client Profile" below will also provide helpful information about your client.

Client Profile

Our client is a North American road freight transportation company with a nearly 20% market share and employs around 25,000 FTE positions. Their business model is focused on long-haul and cross-country transportation; however, a small proportion (up to 10%) is short-haul transportation.

Almost 70% of all freight movement (in tonnage) in the U.S. is undertaken by trucks. However, due to concerns about carbon emissions, there has been a growing shift away from road transportation in North America and toward rail transportation.

Our client is ambitious and wants to reduce their carbon emissions for several reasons: to achieve the Paris Agreement goals, to prepare themselves for future regulations, to contribute to a healthier planet, and to provide a lower-emissions alternative to their competitors and to other forms of freight transportation including rail.

Our client has set the following Science Based Target initiative approved target:

Reduce scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions by 45% per short ton of goods delivered by 2030 (from a 2015 base year)

To achieve their aims, our client has already started to transition parts of their short-haul fleet to EV; however, they are concerned that the transition to an electrified fleet will not be sufficient to meet the needs of the bulk of their operations.

Requirements:

• Provide an overview of the technology you are presenting on.
• Present an overview of the client and why you have undertaken the research.
• Three benefits and opportunities for our client to use hydrogen fuel (for example: zero emissions; improving cost competitiveness; can be produced anywhere from a variety of resources; can be stored in trucks, etc.) *When you are outlining the benefits and barriers, try to make it as relevant for our client as possible, based on what you know from the"Client Profile."You only need to provide a high-level overview of the benefits and barrier
• Three barriers that our client might face in implementation (for example: lack of financial or regulatory incentives; insufficient access to hydrogen; lack of demand for decarbonization; level of "green" depends on the fuels used in hydrogen production; shippers (our client's clients) prioritizing cost-effectiveness and speed rather than emissions reduction, etc.)