Caterpillar’s diverse products, services and technologies that can lower GHG emissions, deliver energy flexibility and improve efficiency and productivity allow us to help customers achieve their sustainability objectives.

Our ability to provide these solutions reflects investments of more than $30 billion in R&D over the past 20 years to deliver best-in-class innovation. This innovation has focused on autonomy, alternative fuels, connectivity and digital, and electrification — technologies we refer to as AACE. With our customers’ sustainability needs continuing to grow, our commitment to innovation and the required investment to support R&D remains strong.

As we bring innovations to market, it’s important to ensure the viability of new solutions in real-world applications that will power the energy transition. To this end, we continue to transform our Tucson Proving Ground in Arizona into a working, sustainable “mine site of the future” by installing and utilizing renewable energy sources. The objective is to implement the same sustainability solutions that mining companies will use at their operations and learn firsthand what it takes to run an electrified mine site and effectively support customers through the changes.

Cat machines are built with innovative features that improve productivity and conserve fuel. Improving productivity and fuel efficiency of our products helps customers do more work with the fuel they use, benefiting the customer’s business and reducing the GHG emissions intensity. For example, through internal testing conducted in 2020 in a truck loading application, the 982 XE Medium Wheel Loader, with the Cat continuously variable transmission, demonstrated lower fuel consumption and related tailpipe emissions by up to 11% as compared to the 982 powershift model.

100%

of new products introduced in 2023 were more sustainable than previous generations.

Progress includes:
More than 50 new products in 2023 satisfied the goal criteria:

• Introduced the Cat R2900 XE Diesel Electric Underground Loader with a high-efficiency electric drive system for mining customers. This electric drive machine improves fuel efficiency by greater than 31% and productivity by 20% compared to the R2900G — helping mines reduce GHG.
• Began offering the Cat G3600 Gen 2 in gas compression applications, which, when running at full load, reduces methane emissions by 33% on g/bhp basis,² compared to the previous model, while boosting power by 10%.
• Introduced the Cat MH3050 Material Handler, which combines components from next generation Cat excavators with the material handler cab, improving productivity and enhancing comfort for the operator. The Cat C9.3B Turbo Diesel Engine meets U.S. EPA Tier 4 Final and EU Stage V emission standards, while Auto Engine Speed Control reduces unnecessary fuel burn and GHG by allowing the engine to automatically go into idle mode when the machine is not operating.
• Talos™ helps customers analyze train runs and optimize train operation. Talos can help improve performance efficiency, resulting in fuel savings and related emission reductions while also enabling the locomotive engineer to focus on safety and situational awareness.

Autonomous Technology

Caterpillar has long invested in autonomous development. In 2023, the team reached a milestone of 10 years of autonomous operations. Through the end of 2023, this fleet counted more than 630 large mining trucks that moved a combined 7.5 billion metric tons.

This fleet is growing every year as customers look to automation and autonomy to drive operational consistency and deliver results.

In 2023, zero of our autonomy customers reported lost time injuries caused by Caterpillar’s autonomous system. Another customer publicly reported their autonomous fleet burns less fuel per ton moved due to less idle time and fewer specific near-miss events. Today, we offer a range of remote control, semi-autonomous and fully autonomous solutions designed to meet specific customer needs at their worksites, with a portfolio of options for haul trucks, water trucks, drills, dozers, wheel loaders and underground loaders. For example, a single operator can simultaneously operate up to four semi-autonomous dozers from a remote location.

The demand for an autonomous fleet also has expanded dramatically. When we first introduced autonomous machines a decade ago, only about 10% of mines in the world had a fleet large enough — approximately 70 trucks or more — to justify the capital investment. That investment can make financial sense for mines with as few as 12 trucks in their fleet. This opportunity not only translates into business growth for Caterpillar, but also offers the opportunity to impact carbon reductions and safety improvements.
 

Connectivity

Caterpillar has more than 1.5 million connected assets. Robust connectivity enables our customers to work smarter and more efficiently by using machine and engine data. Our team has evolved how we extract data from equipment. Now, we are harnessing the next wave of connectivity technologies, such as 5G, Next-Gen Satellite and C-V2X, to build smarter solutions across the industries we service and provide even better customer insights and recommendations.

In 2023, we continued to enhance capabilities with a new version of VisionLink^®, which introduces the ability for customers to track, all in one application, estimated CO2 emissions related to fuel consumption for their Cat and non-Cat equipment. As an example, a customer in Chile monitored more than 2,300 hours of operation on a new D6 XE, which delivered a 30% reduction in fuel consumption versus the D6T working in the same operation.

In the industrial gas turbine space, Solar Turbines leverages the InSight Platform™ and the Energy Optimization products to support our customers in their sustainability journey. The digital tools provide our customers with recommendations for operations to optimize energy and financial considerations.

Tangent Energy Solutions’ Energy as a Service offerings, including Cat AMP, monitors energy market conditions to efficiently dispatch distributed power assets. The software predicts opportunities to lower energy costs for sites with natural gas gensets, renewable power generation, energy storage or microgrids.

Electrification
 

Deploying an electrified industrial equipment portfolio, however, is a more complex undertaking than the electrification of a passenger vehicle. Among the many considerations are longer battery life requirements to enable operation at a jobsite throughout the day and unique charging infrastructure challenges in remote areas where mining and infrastructure work may occur. With a portfolio that includes both transportation and energy solutions, we have a unique opportunity to solve these challenges and innovate new electrification solutions for our customers.

We are gaining valuable experience from initial introductions of battery-powered equipment and the additional battery- powered machines and chargers under development that can help our customers achieve their climate-related objectives.

Following the demonstration of our first battery electric 793 Large Mining Truck Prototype in 2022, we continue to develop the Caterpillar Early Learner program, which focuses on accelerating the deployment and validation of the Cat battery electric trucks at participating customers’ sites. The building of Early Learner trucks is underway. Caterpillar has also successfully demonstrated our first battery electric prototype underground mining truck. This battery electric truck will complete Caterpillar’s first fully electric underground load and haul solution when paired with the commercially available R1700 XE Battery Electric Loader.

In 2023, we launched Pathways to Sustainability — a four-year training program for enrolled customer groups. Representatives from each participating customer and their Cat dealers will receive a holistic learning experience in preparation for the energy transition, focusing on its impacts on people, processes, products, technology and infrastructure.

At the CONEXPO-CON/AGG construction trade show in 2023, we displayed components of Caterpillar’s total construction site solution for the energy transition, including four battery electric machine prototypes — the Cat 301.9 Mini Excavator, 320 Medium Excavator, 950 GC Medium Wheel Loader and 906 Compact Wheel Loader — in addition to AC and DC charging solutions. Caterpillar’s battery prototypes power these battery electric machines using lithium-ion technology.

Railway transportation is another sector in which we are helping to deliver zero exhaust emissions solutions. Australia’s largest rail freight company, Aurizon, has contracted with Progress Rail to build the first zero-exhaust emissions freight locomotive constructed in the country, retrofitting an existing 4000 class locomotive to a battery electric locomotive. This type of work can potentially reduce Australia’s transport emissions and transform the nation’s freight supply chains. This will be the first freight unit to be constructed in Australia powered by batteries, allowing the potential future use of totally renewable energy sources for freight hauls. Progress Rail also has built a zero-idle EMD^® Joule battery-electric locomotive for Pacific Harbor Line, which services the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California. The locomotive began testing at the ports in 2023.

The Cat Energy Storage System (ESS) can help to meet a wide range of our customers’ energy storage and charging needs, including power source integration at a worksite, grid stabilization, transient assist and renewable energy storage. To provide even more flexibility, we have introduced the Cat Compact ESS, a mobile battery energy storage system that supplements traditional mobile power solutions to reduce noise and enable the deployment of renewable energy sources. Additionally, customers using ESS can reduce fuel costs and GHG emissions when compared to continuous generator set usage. Designed for rapid plug-and-play installation and integration, the Cat Compact ESS module can be used with any combination of diesel, natural gas or renewable energy sources such as solar. It stores surplus power from these energy sources and then discharges from its reserve as needed. The modules are ideal for equipment charging stations, offices, auxiliary buildings, and security systems at construction, mining, oilfield and pipeline worksites. The modules also provide flexibility for remote agriculture operations such as irrigation, emergency response and other temporary power applications.

Regulatory Compliance
 

In addition to investments in new technologies to support the energy transition, we’re committed to continuously improving efficiency for traditionally powered machines and equipment as well as compliance with stringent emissions regulations. Caterpillar provides U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 4 Final, European Union (EU) Stage V or equivalent products in North America, Europe and select regions around the world. Products meeting these standards provide up to a 90% reduction in nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emissions compared to U.S. EPA Tier 3 or EU Stage IIIA emission standards. Product improvements in each segment provide customers with cost-saving benefits of improved fuel efficiency and fuel flexibility. Modular offerings allow the customization of products to optimize technology.