Truck Stop Electrification To Fight Pollution
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 10. 9.05
Sometimes the simplest things can make a big difference. The Climate Trust is funding a project in Oregon and Washington state to electrify truck stops so that when truckers stop for their 8-10 hours federally-mandated rest stop, they don't let their diesel engines idle overnight to power air-conditioning and other electrical devices. Frankly, we don't know why it took so long and why it is only happening in Oregon and Washington. This seems like a fairly basic thing, and I'm sure it would be cheaper for truckers to pay for a little electricity than for a night's worth of diesel fuel.
The benefits of the project are obvious: A reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; even if the power coming from the grid is not clean (yet), it is produced at a significantly more efficient rate than a single diesel engine running at idle speed. It also cleans the air for truckers and neighbors, saves fossil fuel and money, truckers sleep better without noise of engines, making for safer roads, and noise pollution is reduced for neighboring communities.
The Climate Trust truck stop electrifying project has a lifetime of 16 years (which we suppose is the amount of time they will help fund the electrification - it doesn't mean it will stop after that), and the results should be the equivalent of taking 16,000 cars off the road (a reduction of 90,000 metric tons carbon dioxide, in addition to all the NOx and other smog-forming emissions).
In congested metro areas mandatory clean air targets are driving this. By cutting down on the PM10, NOX, and SOX emissions at truck stops, non-mobile sources have more flexibility.
This IS a great idea. Letting those big engines run all night parked has always bothered me.
Chris
http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/
While they're at it, they might as well plop some renewable energy sources on the site. I'm willing to bet some clever landscape architects could find creative ways to maximize space for PV panels or wind turbines in the midst of all that blacktop.
My first reaction was "oh great! more pollution displacement", but then you brought up a really good point.
even a dirty fossil fuel burning power plant generates electricity more cleanly and efficiently than an idling diesel automotive engine.
the diesel wasn't designed from the ground up to generate electricity.
so there should be a positive net clean benefit which I'm all for :)
I still can't get over the fact that many truckers leave their engines on all night! How can they not realise they are wasting tons of gas and money? And why has it taken this long for the government to change this? This should definitely become mandatory for all truck stops.
There are some states that have no-idle laws and still have not offered such an alternative, leaving drivers literally without legal options to manage the heat or cold in their cabs while resting. Some trucks do have small secondary generators -- like RVs -- that burn less while running, but this truck stop electrification seems like a much better alternative.
Chs,
The best possibility would be of course if the electricity used came from clean sources. Either through local generation (PV, wind turbines, etc) or through green certificates.
But then, the whole power grid should go clean...
I don't know if this actually saves them money, the provider tends to tack-on various services and charge much for them all, favoring running the engine. Some flexibility would be in order. It would be nicer (and competitive) if the tops of all those trailers could make use fo thin film solar cells, and store all the needed energy in a battery.
I was blogging about this, and one of my readers pointed out that a similar system is opening up in New Jersey in like 10 days. It's a state run program, so we should be able to see what kind of participation that we can expect. Here's the website of the State of New Jersey's unit.
This is a good idea. I thought of panels on top of trailers but I realize they will get dirty and prpbably not cleaned very often. I wonder if you covered the area with solar panels supported by poles so it was roofed in. First you can feed power back to the grid and in the summer shade the area so to cut the heat gain from the sun. Many truckers travel by night and sleep during the day. Since most places do not have these electical hook a small onboard generator is not a bad idea. Much better than idling a large diesel for hours. Probably pay for itself in fuel saved in a reasonable time period.
One other thing, running a small engine to keep a big engine warm and other systems ready to go is being tested on RR switch engines. Many of these are idle for hours on end but are left running to keep the engine warm. On these they shut down large main engine (12 Cyl, 500+ ci per cyl! Wow that's big) and run a small diesel that keeps the oil and coolant warm and batteries charged, air pressure up etc. Cuts down on noise, polution and saves the RR $$ in fuel.
i, too, wish every tractor trailer was equipped with solar panels:
http://www.designerspace.com/pages/3-designerspace/design/i/26596/largeview.html
1 trailer to 100 trailers..collectively "the big picture" is a beautiful rendering of a mobile solar array that can help end our dependence on fossil fuel.
I think that if we made a surtin time for driving there would not be so much polution in the air....