Fleet Reduction - a related initiative
One day, “We looked around at our vehicles and saw so many sitting around all the time,” said Danny. After a careful review of the fleet Danny realized that the City had quite a number of energy inefficient vehicles or ones with minimal usage. “So we held an Obsolete Equipment Auction with the local auctioneer and disposed of the them.”
The City made $44,000 from the auction just by getting rid of unncessary and GHG intensive equipment and vehicles. The money went into the equipment reserve and will help fund further energy-efficient equipment purchases.
Along with this fleet right-sizing, City Council has committed to purchasing hybrid vehicles whenever possible. It has already acquired a hybrid Toyota Highlander and two hybrid Honda Civics. These vehicles have an automatic idle stop feature and an innovative air conditioning system that uses an electric compressor to keep occupants comfortable when the engine is stopped.
Costs of Implementation
“The capital cost of the idling reduction program has been very modest. All new equipment specifications include dual battery systems and the LED lighting is being changed over as failure of old units occurs,” said Danny. The City was also supplied with information packages and some Idle Free signage from the Fraser Basin Council.
The City made use of the Provincial Government’s rebate of $2,000 for each hybrid vehicle purchase and $2,000 from Transport Canada’s EcoAuto Program.
Outcomes
“Less equipment is left idling in the Public Works Yard or on the works site,” said Danny. Fuel consumption comparisons after one year have shown an average of 20% savings in fuel usage. This means that the City has reduced GHG emissions by approximately 63,600kg. Vehicle maintenance costs have also gone down by approximately 20%. “Working conditions in the Public Works Yard have improved due to fewer GHG emissions, less noise pollution, and very few complaints of diesel smell in the building from exhaust gases being drawn into the HVAC system.” No doubt this will result in fewer health impacts from GHG emissions as well.
“There is also more awareness in the community that idling generates harmful emissions, wastes fuel, reduces engine life, is revenue negative, and can easily be minimized,” Danny said about the effects felt throughout the community.
Please follow the links to Fleet Idling Reduction and Vehicle and Fleet Right-Sizing for more information on these topics.