So, what's all this (garbage-powered electric truck), then?
Pick up trash, turn it into electricity, power the truck that goes out to pick up more trash. Repeat.
That's the idea behind a new Smith Edison Transit electric garbage truck that has just starter service in Huddersfield in the UK. The truck picks up the rubbish and brings it to a nearby Energy from Waste recycling center. The garbage is burned and used to generate electricity that is then fed into the truck's batteries - oh, and also into the grid. This is not nearly as cool as a Mr. Fusion-like system that would generate power on-board, but it is much more practical and is realistic now in 2009. We'll see if Ford decides to add a workplace garbage-fuel option to their new Transit Connect EV.
[Source: Register Hardware via Gizmag]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Stan Wellaway 9:55AM (2/09/2009)
Maybe the US Army might like to nip into Huddersfield town centre and see the truck in action. It could be just what they're looking for
In December they ended a six month trial of three Chrysler-GEM electric trucks at a base in Germany. Trash patrols were among the tasks, and the Chrysler trucks failed to impress. See http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2008/12/army-pulls-plug-on-gem-evs-in-europe-after-they-fail-trial-at-base-in-germany.html
Since then, it has been announced that the US Army will be buying 4000 electric vehicles for use at bases in the US. The first batch will include a few of the Chrysler GEM trucks, but these will be assigned to lesser duties, and the army is reportedly open to buying other makes. Trash patrols will presumably be one of the tasks involved.
Meanwhile, this comment was found by someone who posts on a bulletin board that I frequent
Federal News Service
January 12, 2009 Monday
DEPARTMENT DEFENSE BRIEFING
3136 words
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE BLOGGERS ROUNDTABLE WITH PAUL BOLLINGER, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY FOR ENERGY AND PARTNERSHIPS (VIA TELECONFERENCE FROM IRAQ);
SUBJECT: U.S. ARMY ACQUISITION OF 4,000 NEIGHBORHOOD ELECTRIC VEHICLES"
.....[then skip to about halfway down].........
"As a matter of fact, which was nice to see is we had Smith Electric Vehicle here which is a UK manufactured electric vehicle that is a higher speed vehicle, but they're working to sign a joint venture agreement with one of the Detroit automakers and open a plant in the United States to produce vehicles. So as we move to using electric vehicles for off-installation use, they may produce a very strong product in the near future."
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=25098&docId=l:911579962&isRss=true
The whole piece indicates the DoD is considering a truly major EV procurement programme. Though the article refers to the 4,000 NEV order for GEM the discussion highlights a procurement programme potential in excess of 40,0000 units.
Maybe the army would find the Smith Edison rubbish truck a bit more robust than the GEM. It certainly offers a greater distance per charge (up to 100 miles claimed), and could travel off-base.
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Tim 11:31AM (2/09/2009)
Fuel tanks and ICEs coupled with hydraulic-hybrids may be cheaper and more reliable than batteries for THIS application but it all depends on required range and the size of the trucks (collection route volume).
Landfill methane could be used to power garbage trucks
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/04/27/landfill-methane-could-be-used-to-power-garbage-trucks/
Peterbilt unveils new hydraulic hybrid garbage truck
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/05/06/peterbilt-unveils-new-hydraulic-hybrid-garbage-truck/
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Carney 12:54PM (2/09/2009)
A better idea is to use the garbage to make methanol fuel. Methanol can be made from any biomass (crop residues, waterway-clogging weeds, raked leaves and grass clippings, roadkill, trash, even sewage). And methanol, being a liquid at normal temperature and pressure is convenient as a fuel.
Best of all methanol can be used in gasoline compatible vehicles (flex fuel vehicles) so that drivers won't be stuck if they run low on fuel (or power) when not near an alt-fuel or charge station; instead they can just fill up on gasoline if they have to.
That makes a transition away from gasoline much more practical, easy to accomplish, and easy to sell to the general public. And you still get to use trash as fuel.
Finally, methanol burns very cleanly, with no smoke/soot particulate matter, no sulfur, substantially less NOx (and less than a tenth of reactivity to it), so no smog and much less ozone smog.
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Stan Wellaway 5:08PM (2/09/2009)
Yeah but, those suggested alternatives all involve fuels designed to work in an internal combustion engine. The combustion engine has served us well for a hundred years, but is SOooooo! last century. Stop trying to keep it alive beyond its time, and move on. This is the 21st century - we shouldn't still be using engines that involve internal explosions, pistons hurtling up and down, and large proportions of energy being thrown off as waste heat. It's demise is long overdue. All the bolt-on gadgetry designed to try and comply with ever-tightening emissions legislation is adding expensive complexity to what is already a far too complex collection of a thousand bits and pieces.
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Carney 9:48AM (2/10/2009)
The ICE is a refined, reliable technology. It's not particularly exciting, but it's the best option we have for power per cubic centimeter at a low price. If you're worried by waste heat, alcohol fuels burn cool compared to gasoline.
Alcohol ICEs are the short to mid term solution. Mid to long term I think we'd transition to alcohol ICE/plug-in electric hybrids, then to electric only vehicles, as EV tech improves, and especially as the capacity and reliability of the power grid is upgraded.
To accommodate the enormous and growing burden of transportation I think we'll have to have fusion power plants sending that juice down the line. We should fund fusion research much more (it has closely tracked oil prices thanks to short-sighted politicians) and cut off wasteful boondoggles like hydrogen and solar.