Plowing fields, building houses, or clearing snow in an energy-efficient and emissions-free manner: to achieve this, the Canton of Zurich intends to promote the electrification of non-road mobile machinery. INFRAS provides a basis for this effort with a market analysis and potential assessment.
In road traffic, electrification has picked up speed over the past decade. One in five newly registered passenger cars is now electric, and even electric trucks are no longer a rarity. However, the picture is different in the non-road sector. In industrial, construction, and agricultural machinery, the dominance of fossil fuels remains unbroken. While non-road mobile machinery in Switzerland only consumes less than 10% of the energy used by road traffic, it contributes disproportionately to air pollution due to a later onset of regulations and less stringent emission limits: nitrogen oxide emissions account for 20%, and particulate matter emissions even reach 32% of those from road traffic.
As part of its climate action plan, the Canton of Zurich aims to promote the electrification of non-road machines. It commissioned INFRAS to assess the potential for electrification in this sector and to identify support measures.
Limited Availability of Electric Non-Road Machines
There are around 40,000 non-road machines in the Canton of Zurich, as estimated by INFRAS as part of the study. A quarter of these are already electrically powered today. The extent to which this share can be increased by 2030 depends largely on the availability of electrically powered non-road mobile machinery on the market. «Availability is currently still limited and varies depending on the area of application and performance requirements, as our market analysis has shown», says co-author Sophie Bogler.
To date, electric drives have been widely used for machines that can be used indoors, such as forklift trucks, or for sweeping and cleaning machines that only have to cover short distances and can be recharged in between. «For larger machines with long working hours, such as excavators, tractors or timber harvesters, the range is still very limited and the few electric models are significantly more expensive than conventional, fossil-fuel powered models», says Bogler.
Energy and Emissions Savings Possible in the Short Term
As the existing machinery will only be replaced at the end of its service life, only a slight increase in the number of electric non-road machines in the canton of Zurich is expected by 2030. INFRAS has modeled the change for two scenarios. In the scenario without support measures, the proportion of electrically powered machines would increase by 2% by 2030, in the scenario with support measures by around 6%. In the best-case scenario, energy consumption could be reduced by 9% and emissions would decrease: by 14% for CO2, 19% for nitrogen oxides and 11% for particulate matter.
«What's more, noise pollution would be significantly lower with electrically powered machines, which would be a major advantage for construction sites in residential areas in particular», adds Bogler.
Multi-Level Support Measures
Norway demonstrates that the electrification of non-road mobile machinery is feasible. In Oslo, some municipal construction projects have already been completed using electric construction machinery. Measures such the assumption of electricity costs by the city or placing greater emphasis on environmental criteria in the awarding of construction projects have been instrumental. INFRAS compiled these and other recommendations into a catalog of proposed support measures.
In addition to financial incentives and regulatory requirements, the expansion of charging infrastructure, which remains insufficient in the Canton of Zurich, is crucial. «Discussions with stakeholders highlighted the importance of knowledge sharing and experience exchange», says co-author Benedikt Notter. Potential measures include advisory services or support in training technical personnel for maintenance tasks.
The Canton of Zurich itself aims to set an example by operating its own non-road fleet entirely CO2 emission free by 2040. «This initiative is intended to signal to the private sector that electrification is feasible», Notter emphasizes. «The INFRAS study provides a critical basis for achieving that goal.»
Further information (in German):
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