As vehicle-emission regulations grow stricter and municipalities strive to cut costs, hydraulic hybrid refuse vehicles offer a clear option to reduce emissions and save money in one fell swoop.
Angelo Caponi
In the U.S., CO2 emissions increased by about 10 percent between 1990 and 2011. Transportation emissions contributed significantly to the increase in CO2 emissions, as an expanding population and economy during this period necessitated a rise in the number of vehicles needed to support them. Heavy-duty trucks release about 20 percent of the transportation sector鈥檚 carbon pollution.1 In 2011, President Obama revised the Clean Air Act for heavy-duty vehicles in a move to reduce that percentage. These regulations went into effect in 2014 and are projected to reduce greenhouse gases by roughly 250 million metric tons.2 听The most effective way to counter this alarming trend is to reduce fossil fuel consumption, and one substantial first step is to increase the efficiency of our heavy-duty transportation industry.听
A Clean Air Challenge for Heavy-duty Trucks
Reducing the fuel consumption of heavy-duty vehicles presents a significant challenge for manufacturers, especially since they already use efficient and reliable engines. In recent years manufacturers have invested significantly in improving engine performance. The substantial costs of additional refinements would not warrant the marginal reduction in fuel consumption they would yield.
In the effort to reduce the amount of fuel consumed and emissions generated by heavy-duty trucks, local neighborhood refuse trucks could make a significant impact. A typical refuse truck travels 25,000 miles each year and gets just 2 to 4 mpg. That amounts to about 8,600 gallons of fuel each year. At that rate, the nation鈥檚 fleet of 120,000 refuse trucks in service collectively burns through more than 1 billion gallons of fuel each year, which makes this market a good place to start making changes.听听
Current Options to Clean a Dirty Environment
The first step involves making available established and emerging technologies that help modernize existing fleets. For example, the installation of exhaust after-treatment devices, anti-idling upgrades and changes in operating strategies enable fleet managers to minimize their environmental impact.
Another method to help pare emissions encompasses transitioning to clean fuels such as compressed natural gas or propane from gasoline or diesel. However, this strategy presents unique challenges in vehicle maintenance and refueling infrastructure.
Regardless of fuel source or technology, every vehicle produces CO2 emissions during the combustion process. So, the ultimate goal should be to minimize the environmental impact by improving vehicle efficiency and reducing overall fuel consumption. For trucking fleets to grasp and properly assess the feasibility of these options to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, they must consider the use of a different and alternative technology.听
All Roads Lead to Green with Hydraulic Hybrid Drive Technology
One such alternative technology that saves money and reduces emissions for municipalities is Parker Hannifin鈥檚 hydraulic hybrid technology, RunWise庐 Advanced Series Hybrid Drive system, which is used in refuse vehicles and improves efficiencies for municipal fleets by decreasing costs and emissions on daily garbage routes. One municipality reaping the benefits of the hydraulic hybrid drive system in its refuse fleet is Seymour, IN. For Seymour, 鈥済oing green鈥� was an easy decision. The city offers its nearly 20,000 residents a free recycling program that provides curbside pick-up of unsorted recyclable materials. To help pay for the program, residents鈥� recyclable trash is sorted through a local company, and items of value, such as scrap paper or aluminum cans, are sold.
Despite help from the sale of valuable recyclables, the city鈥檚 budget remained tight. It would be difficult to maintain the free recycling program due to the cost of the fuel it was taking to run the routes鈥擲eymour needed an alternative that would save money in fuel and decrease the cost of labor.
For the Public Works Department, saving money in fuel and labor costs became the ultimate priority. The answer came when a distributor of Parker Hannifin鈥檚 hydraulic hybrid drive system shared its benefits with the Greater Indiana Clean Cities Coalition. With the help of the coalition, the city received a grant from the Indiana Office of Energy Development and the state鈥檚 American Recovery & Reinvestment Act fund and implemented a hydraulic hybrid truck into their operations in the city of Seymour, IN.
Ultimately, Seymour has achieved benefits from the hydraulic hybrid drive system by:
a)听听听听听 Reducing energy demand by capturing brake energy. The brake energy recovery system converts the vehicle鈥檚 kinetic energy into stored energy by compressing nitrogen gas in a storage device called an accumulator, which reduces fuel consumption by up to 50 percent.
b)听听听听听 Reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A hydraulic hybrid truck can consume 4,300 gallons less fuel per year than a truck running on a standard transmission. This equates to an average annual reduction in CO2 emissions of 48 tons per year, equivalent to removing 6.7 cars from the road or planting 1,500 trees.
c)听听听听听 Reducing vehicle maintenance. The brake energy recovery technology increases brake durability up to eight times longer than normal trucks. Maintenance is only needed one to two times during the life of a truck.
d)听听听听 Increasing durability. It takes just three to four years to realize the return on investment.
Overall, the RunWise hydraulic hybrid drive technology dramatically reduces engine use and, thus, extends engine life, reducing maintenance and downtime.
Right now, Seymour鈥檚 RunWise hydraulic hybrid truck is running a regular trash route and will be used in the recycling program. The benefits of the technology continue to grow according to Kellie Walsh, executive director of the Greater Indiana Clean Cities Coalition, 鈥淭he old trucks would take about seven hours and six people to run about 700 stops. With RunWise, it only takes six hours and one person. And it鈥檚 a smoother ride for the driver overall.鈥� In addition to increased productivity, the city鈥檚 hybrid refuse truck is consuming an average of 52 percent less diesel fuel than a non-hybrid (2.5 miles/gallon vs. 1.3 miles/gallon).
With increased fuel savings and a significant increase in efficiency for the city鈥檚 refuse and recycling program, the city expects that the department can justify purchasing two additional trucks to replace the automated conventional diesel trucks that run the regular trash routes in the city.
A Cleaner Road Ahead
As vehicle-emission regulations grow stricter and municipalities strive to cut costs, hydraulic hybrid refuse vehicles offer a clear option to reduce emissions and save money in one fell swoop.听听
Angelo Caponi is a Sales Specialist for Parker Hannifin鈥檚 (Cleveland, OH) Hybrid Drive Systems Division. Formed in 2011, Parker Hannifin’s Hybrid Drive System Division’s objective is to accelerate the growth of Parker’s hydraulic hybrid drive systems in the medium and heavy truck markets. is a world-leading diversified manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems, providing precision-engineered solutions for a wide variety of mobile, industrial andaerospace markets. For more information, visit parkerhybrid.parker.com.听
Notes听
- President Barack Obama. “Remarks by the President on Fuel Efficiency Standards of Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles.” Upper Marlboro, MD. 18 Feb. 2014. Speech.
- Canelli, Rachel. “New Emissions Standards Proposed for Trucks, Buses.” Clean Air Council. Bucks County Courier Times, n.d. Web. 06 Aug. 2014.
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