The potential of battery electric trucks in forest transportation

The forest transportation sector is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Industrial professionals aim to shift towards more environmentally friendly practices to help reduce emissions. Electrification is relatively new to forest transportation, as there are limited studies describing its influence because of limited practical use and a lack of relevant data on energy consumption and the behavior of electric trucks. This study investigates various opportunities and barriers to the adoption of battery electric trucks in forestry to support the emission reduction goals of Canada. This paper reviews the scientific literature relevant to studies in battery electric trucks in three planning horizons: strategic, tactical, and operational planning. It looks at the recent developments of heavy-duty electric trucks in charging infrastructure, life cycle analysis, total cost of ownership, energy consumption, emerging technology, and specific routing problems. This paper also discusses industrial initiatives in forest freight electrification. The analysis results highlight the different industrial applications in forestry where electrification brought about a watershed. The forest transportation sector has the potential to become carbon-neutral by investing in battery electric trucks, but achieving net-zero emissions might not be realistic without changes in policies and incentives.