In Canada’s high-cost, low-margin trucking industry, decarbonization only works if the math adds up. For years, heavy-haul operators have been caught between the push for lower emissions and the reality that Western Canada’s freight demands serious torque and performance.
Cody Brookwell, Director of Sales and Business Development at Clean Energy Fuels, is leading a project that is de-risking the adoption of 100 high-horsepower CNG and RNG trucks by putting them to work in Alberta’s extreme climate. With $6.5 million in funding from Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), the project is demonstrating that renewable natural gas is a practical path to a more affordable, made-in-Canada, sustainable supply chain.
We sat down with Cody Brookwell to discuss the project. Listen to the full discussion on our Carbon Copy podcast.
Can you walk us through your personal journey with this initiative, from the initial ERA proposal in 2019 to where you are today?
My journey with this actually started before my time with Clean Energy. Back in 2018, I was working for my first employer, ATCO, on the natural gas distribution side of their business.
ATCO has always had a very strong culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. So when ERA’s BEST Challenge came out, there was a lot of excitement about it, and I was very fortunate to interact quite a bit with the innovation teams on both the gas and electric side. I ultimately developed a proposal that laid out the framework for how we would launch, accelerate and scale compressed natural gas and over-the-road trucking in Alberta.
Clean Energy was part of the plan from the start. They’ve been a leader in the natural gas infrastructure space for about 30 years. So I approached them when I was with ATCO to be a project partner to help de-risk one of the biggest components —the station infrastructure itself. I remember the challenge being heavily oversubscribed, which I’m sure most are, and one of the engineers at ATCO gave me my Vegas odds of success, which I still remember, was 3.5% or less. So that was quite humbling and certainly managed my expectations. But at the end of the day, when we were awarded, I think it took quite a few people off guard, given it was a commercial-scale demonstration, rather than a technology validation.
Ultimately, ATCO decided that they were in full support of this initiative, but they weren’t going to be the company that led the initiative. I had to pivot, and I approached Clean Energy, and I pitched them the idea of them leading the way in Western Canada. And fortunately for me, they agreed with the condition that I would join the company and lead that endeavour on their behalf. So it’s been quite a journey, but it’s been a very rewarding journey, for sure.
What makes this commercial demonstration of 100 CNG and RNG-powered trucks so vital to decarbonization in Western Canada’s high-cost, low-margin trucking industry?
In a high-cost, low-margin industry like trucking, decarbonization and various pathways only work if the solution either lowers or at least protects the operating economics. We have seen a lot of different alternative technologies in early validation stages, and I think we have seen the challenge on the business case when it comes down to that fundamental point.
That’s where compressed natural gas becomes vital, not as a perfect solution, because I won’t sit here and say that it’s been perfect, because it hasn’t been. But it’s a practical and scalable one. This project also provides immediate emission benefits today, and as this initiative evolves and we look to bring in renewable natural gas, that is really when we’re going to start to scale the emissions benefit rapidly.
What does the operational feedback from drivers look like—performance, noise, and fueling?
The driver is the unofficial decision maker within every organization. Good drivers are in high demand, and companies will go to great lengths to retain that talent pool. I made a point of seeking out that feedback early on because I was very interested, and I wasn’t allowed to drive the truck myself, and also recognizing the importance of that feedback and obviously that voice.
Three themes come up consistently. First, performance is comparable to diesel—drivers say they can’t tell the difference in pulling power or torque, which matches Cummins’ data showing the X15N’s power and torque curves mirror the diesel X15. Second, the truck is about 10 decibels quieter—roughly half as noisy as diesel. That might be a “soft sell” to a fleet owner, but for a driver behind the wheel for an 8–10 hour shift, noise fatigue is real, and fatigue is one of the industry’s biggest safety concerns. Third, fueling is quick with no lingering smell — drivers talk about ruining favourite gloves with diesel residue; natural gas is odourless.
These may come across as soft sells, but in the eyes of the driver, I would say these small wins really do add up into something meaningful. And again, it goes beyond the fuel savings. If you can improve the work environment of that driver, the willingness to adopt and to get that support at the driver level up is pretty important.
What excites you most about the path ahead for natural gas in the Canadian freight sector, and what role will Clean Energy Fuels play?
What excites me most about the path ahead for this technology is that it’s one of the few solutions that actually aligns with the economic reality of the industry, while delivering benefits well beyond trucking itself.
The challenge isn’t willingness, it’s viability. So solutions that increase cost or introduce operational risk simply won’t scale in a sector like trucking. That’s what makes CNG so compelling. I know that higher utilization of the utility system will benefit all ratepayers, not just fleets. What that means is a lower cost for Alberta families to heat their homes in the winter. More affordable freight means lower costs for goods and services, and hopefully that means a lower grocery bill for Alberta families to put food on the table.
I think this pathway offers a rare win-win. It’s not just an energy transformation story; it’s a made-in-Canada affordability and reliability story, and that’s what’s really fueling the fire for me.
Hear more in the Carbon Copy podcast