Background
In Gävle Municipality, the transport sector accounts for 63% of greenhouse gas emissions, with an additional 9% coming from construction machinery. Despite several previous initiatives, there are still major challenges in scaling up these solutions at local and regional levels to achieve broader impact.
Now, Gävle has received support from the EU’s Net Zero Cities project to launch a focus area on transport and mobility. This support enables the city to translate its climate ambitions into practical actions.
Objectives
The project will establish a new collaboration network between the public sector, business, academia, and civil society. The goal is to test innovative ways of working together to achieve climate neutrality and to lay the foundation for effective electrification of charging infrastructure, with a focus on road transport.
Implementation
The project will focus on:
- Increasing knowledge about the economic and practical effects of different choices between electrified transport and sustainable fuels.
- Identifying suitable locations for charging infrastructure, taking into account grid capacity and logistics routes.
- Developing local and regional policies and regulations to support emission reductions in the transport sector.
- Building a strong local mandate for action.
- Changing attitudes toward more sustainable transport solutions.
- Developing innovative methods in procurement processes.
The pilot project builds on previous activities in the city that will be refined and scaled up. In 2022–2023, a collaborative platform was initiated between road transport companies and freight buyers. The project will build on earlier experiences and models developed, such as simulation models for large-scale charging infrastructure (”terminal to grid”) and projects like Terminal Charging of Electric Distribution Vehicles and 100% Electirfication of Distribution Vehicles.
Experiences from previous and ongoing projects on digital platforms, alternative fossil-free fuel stations, shared commuting platforms, and static charging infrastructure will be used to strengthen cooperation and create a successful pilot project. The goal is to establish systematic and cross-sectoral approaches to support decarbonization of the transport sector.
Project presentation
During Almedalen Week, a seminar was held where Roland Elander from Sustainable Innovation and Anna Klasson from 3rd Bridge presented the project and its intended implementation. Watch the recording from the seminar.
