Edmonton International Airport, Hydra Energy & Hercules Logistics Sign MOU to Demo Hydrogen-Converted Class 8 Fleet Within Airport’s Sustainability Campus
Hercules’ converted trucks will run off airport’s low-carbon hydrogen fuelling infrastructure creating self-contained testbed for sustainability innovation
EDMONTON, AB (April 27, 2022) - Today at the Canadian Hydrogen Convention, three Canadian transportation companies have come together to reduce emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. Edmonton International Airport (EIA) has partnered with hydrogen trucking pioneer, Hydra Energy, and Alberta transport provider, Hercules Logistics, to demonstrate a Hercules’ Class 8 fleet retrofitted with Hydra’s proprietary hydrogen-diesel, co-combustion system running within the Airport’s Sustainability Campus. Hydrogen for the converted trucks will come directly from EIA’s to be developed fuelling infrastructure creating a self-contained testbed for continued sustainability innovation.
“The Airport City Sustainability Campus is about supporting and developing innovation in the region. We’re like a small city providing the perfect environment for demonstrations just like this,” said Myron Keehn, Vice President, Air Service, Business Development, ESG and Government Relations at EIA. “As we continue to focus on hydrogen-related solutions to help reduce airport operations emissions, we’re proud to undertake this industry-leading project with Hydra and Hercules.”
“Hydrogen continues to prove its value in reducing truck emissions since it doesn’t compromise on the power and torque required for heavy payloads, works in cold temperatures, and doesn’t add the weight of heavy batteries that can reduce payload and revenue,” explained Hydra Energy CEO, Jessica Verhagen. “In Hydra’s case specifically, our unique Hydrogen-as-a-Service model also means we can retrofit existing fleets like Hercules’ to run on both hydrogen and diesel at no cost to fleet owners overcoming the expense hurdle when it comes to decarbonizing fleets”.
Once a Hercules Class 8 truck has been retrofitted with Hydra’s tanks, gas handling components, and secondary controller to control hydrogen flow, up to 40% of diesel will automatically be displaced per vehicle. Hydrogen refuelling is then as quick as diesel meaning no change or negative impact for Hercules’ drivers.
Added Hercules President, Darren Smith, “As a regional carrier, our heavy-duty trucks are traveling and impacting a large geographical area. That’s why we’re a technology driven carrier with one of the most modern fleets in Canada. We’re looking forward to testing out the Hydra dual-fuel system on our existing trucks to see how they perform within Airport City and to taking this important step towards emissions reduction without having to replace our trucks altogether.”
About Edmonton International Airport
Edmonton International Airport (EIA) is a self-funded, not-for-profit corporation driving economic prosperity for the Edmonton Metropolitan Region. EIA is Canada’s fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic and the largest major Canadian airport by land area. EIA’s Airport City Sustainability Campus is home to companies focused on tourism, entertainment, cargo logistics, manufacturing, sustainability, and technology development and commercialization. As a result, EIA generated an economic output of over $3.2 billion a supported over 26,000 jobs pre-pandemic. At its core, EIA believes equity and diversity is a strength and creating and inclusive space is both a privilege and is a fundamental responsibility. For more information, please visit: flyeia.com, follow @flyeia on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook.
About Hercules
At Hercules Logistics, we are problem solvers offering logistics solutions serving Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and British Columbia. You bring the problem. We bring the solution. We love to share some of the stories of the challenges which have been brought to us over the years. Vision is the key, the ability to think outside the box, rather than follow what everyone else is doing. We believe we have some of the brightest minds in the business, with a combined 80 years of trucking and logistics experience. For more information, please visit www.herculeslogistics.ca.
Hercules President, Darren Smith, and CEO, Carl Rosenau, in front of a Hercules truck soon to be converted with Hydra’s hydrogen-diesel, co-combustion technology.
