Walmart

At a Glance

Industry

Retail and Apparel

Project Type

Supply Chain

Year

2022

Location

Shenzhen, Guangdong

Summary

Chonggang Yang compiled information on new energy heavy-duty trucks (HDTs) at Walmart Global Sourcing and estimated the feasibility of applying new energy HDTs to supplier logistics through a cost-benefit analysis.

Goals

Project Gigaton, announced by Walmart in April 2017, aims to incentivize suppliers to reduce GHG emissions upstream and downstream of global value chains. Suppliers' fuel-based HDTs generate significant CO2 emissions from freight transport. To avoid carbon emissions from transport in the value chains, Walmart Global Sourcing engaged Chonggang Yang to determine total carbon reductions by studying the application of new energy HDTs in logistics.

Solutions

Chonggang Yang took the following approach:

  • Identified the types and market applications of new energy HDTs around the world: Through data collection and market survey, three main types of new energy HDTs were found: rechargeable, battery-swap electric and hydrogen HDTs. By considering the advantages and disadvantages of each type of HDTs as well as the market prospects, battery-swap electric and hydrogen HDTs were considered to be the most suitable.

  • Reviewed policies related to new energy HDTs in China and India: China has introduced a series of policies and measures at national and regional level for new energy HDTs, covering almost the entire life cycle of new energy vehicles, with an increasing number of policies related to hydrogen vehicles in particular. The new energy vehicle markets in China and India are relatively well developed.

  • Conducted a cost-benefit analysis of new energy HDTs: Based on the energy consumption, purchase cost and operation-related data collected, Chonggang Yang calculated the operating costs and carbon abatement benefits of different types of HDTs, and ultimately estimated the feasibility of applying new energy HDTs to logistics.

  • Consulted several logistics companies in China: Inquired about new energy HDTs and sought advice from suppliers for low-carbon transport options.

Potential Impact

The application of new energy HDTs for freight transport can significantly reduce carbon emissions from transport in the supply chains. On average, an electric HDT can save US$15,000 per year in operating costs, while reducing carbon emissions by around 10 tons. In the future, as the energy mix transformation deepens and the cost of battery manufacturing decreases due to technological advances, total costs will be reduced by around 30%, and carbon emissions will be reduced by over 55%. In addition, as net-zero emission vehicles, hydrogen HDTs could become the mainstay of future low-carbon transport.

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