Mahdi (Mat) Akbari | MEL Clean Energy Candidate | December 2020
APPP 506 – Master of Engineering Leadership Capstone Project, University of British Columbia
Project Background
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently announced the Uber Initiatives to become a fully zero-emission platform by 2040. A goal to have 100% of rides take place in electric vehicles (EVs) in the US, Canadian, and European cities by 2030 (Driving a Green Recovery). With this regard, Uber CEO announced four initiatives to pursue these goals :
- Expanding Uber Green
- Helping drivers transition to EVS
- Investing in Uber multimodal network
- Being transparent and accountable
Project Scope
UberPLANET (UberECO) is an initiative to pursue Uber’s goal towards a cleaner business in Mexico. Following criteria are investigated through this project:
A) Carbon emission resulted from Uber activities in Mexico per year.
- Estimating fuel pollution
- Mileage of different types of vehicles
- Energy mix in Mexico
B) Assessing carbon neutrality short, mid, and long-term options with the highest efficiency.
- Buying Carbon Offsets
- Uber Foundation
- Drivers’ Incentives
- Direct Investment in Clean Energy Initiatives
Project Objectives
Uber is committing more than $800 million in resources to help hundreds of thousands of drivers in the US, Canada, and Europe transition to EVs by 2025. however, this is not a viable solution in Mexico due to the lack of infrastructure, affordability, etc. Therefore, the best possible/localized options in Mexico were investigated in this research.
Research Methods
Uber Internal Data Analysis
However, considering all the pollutant factors of an activity or a business is not possible, there are ways to ensure that the direct consequences are taken into account. When it comes to ride-sharing applications, Uber in particular, some factors considered such as Uber Drivers’ mileage, Car models to calculate fuel consumption, in case of electric cars, the Energy Mix of the origin country, and the CO2 equivalent released by each unit of a specific fuel.
Survey, Questionnaire , Test
Then this is important to conduct surveys, analyze data, and examine suggested solutions through the test phase to investigate the popularity and effectiveness of suggested solutions.
Discussion and Conclusions
Considering different options limits and effectiveness, economy, society, and the infrastructure condition in Mexico, Uber Mexico developed its strategy through different pathways to achieve its short and long-term carbon neutrality goal.
Contact
Please feel free to contact me if you need any further information.
e.mmakbari@gmail.com
References
arlson, D., Lingl, P., & Wong, R. (2009). Purchasing Carbon Offsets: A Guide for Canadian Consumers,Businesses, and Organizations. David Suzuki Foundation & Pembina Institute.
EPA. (2020). Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Retrieved from www.epa.gov: https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions#:~:text=The%20primary%20sources%20of%20greenhouse,share%20of%20greenhouse%20gas%20emissions.
European Parliament. (2020). What is carbon neutrality and how can it be achieved by 2050? Retrieved from www.europarl.europa.eu: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20190926STO62270/what-is-carbon-neutrality-and-how-can-it-be-achieved-by-2050#:~:text=Carbon%20neutrality%20means%20having%20a,the%20atmosphere%20in%20carbon%20sinks.&text=In%20order%20to%20achieve%