By Robert Schoenberger 

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- After a year in service, Parker Hannifin Corp. is calling its fleet of demonstration hydraulic hybrid garbage trucks in Florida a success. 

Used in Miami and other cities, the trucks have used 43 percent less diesel fuel than traditional trucks and have had almost no breakdowns.

"Having seen the results in these pioneering South Florida communities, many more municipalities and fleet operators have shown interest in purchasing vehicles featuring our RunWise technology," Parker hydraulics group president Jeff Cullman said in a written statement.

The Parker trucks are hydraulic hybrids. Gasoline-electric hybrids such as the Toyota Prius store energy in a large battery and use that electricity to power the vehicle at times, reducing the use of gasoline. 

The Parker system captures energy normally lost when the vehicles brake and stores that in compressed hydraulic fluid. When the driver hits the accelerator pedal, the system releases the compressed fluid, launching the vehicle from its stopped position. The diesel engine then moves the trucks at higher speeds. 

"The hybrid is faster, more dependable, experiences less noise in the cab and has not encountered any problems," Scotty Rodgers, an Miami truck operator, said in a written statement. "The truck moves very smoothly from stop to stop allowing me to get through my route more quickly."

In addition to hitting its fuel economy targets, the test trucks were in service 99 percent of the time during their first year, a reliability statistic that Parker plans to promote as it begins selling the hybrid systems nationwide.
Article From:  http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2012/03/parker_hannifin_refuse_trucks.html 

By Tyler Falk 
In a fascinating new waste management plan, natural gas from decomposed waste will power garbage trucks in the Canadian city of Surrey.

The city, the second largest in British Columbia, is converting its diesel-powered waste-collection trucks to new trucks that run on compressed natural gas. That natural gas will come from organic waste – around 65,000 tons a year – that will be taken to a new waste-to-biofuels production facility. At the facility, the organic waste will decompose and the biogases it releases will be turned into fuel.

A new report from Energy Vision, a New York-based organization that promotes the transition away from petroleum-based transportation fuel, says that the initiative will cut the total municipal waste stream by 75% through recycling (23%) and separated organics (51%).

Here’s how the city’s waste management plan is projected to reduce waste in landfills and increase recycling: [see below]

“The ambitious and exciting initiative by the City of Surrey is the first we have seen in the U.S. or Canada, in which municipal officials have assumed a leadership role in designing and orchestrating this type of closed loop system,” said Joanna Underwood, president of Energy Vision, in the report.

With the U.S. and Canada being among the top five generators of municipal solid waste per capita, Surrey is a model to help cities cut back on the amount of waste sent to landfills.

It’s also a move that will save the city $2.8 million a year for waste collection, when the new system is fully functioning by 2014.

Article from:  http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/cities/waste-will-power-garbage-trucks-in-canadian-city/1712 
Photo: City of Surrey
Graph: “The City of Surrey: Setting The Pace for Sustainable Transportation”

 By Gina-Marie Cheeseman | January 26th, 2012
Landfills across the U.S. are teeming with waste. In fact, the average American throws away over 1,130 pounds of waste a year. That’s an environmental disaster because rotting garbage produces landfill gas (LFG) which is made up of 50 percent methane, a greenhouse gas with the warming potential 23 times greater than carbon. Municipal solid waste (MSW) is the third-largest source of human-related methane emissions in the U.S. In 2009, MSW accounted for about 17 percent of methane emissions according to the EPA. MSW landfills released an estimated 27.5 million metric tons of carbon equivalent to the atmosphere in 2009.

The environmental disaster can be avoided by using LFG as a source of energy to create heat or electricity. Landfills can “significantly reduce” their methane emissions through LFG projects. Over 365 landfills in the U.S. already recover methane and use it to produce electricity or heat. An LFG energy project can capture 60 to 90 percent of the methane emitted from a landfill. Generating electricity from LFG makes up about two-thirds of the operational projects in the U.S. Using LFG to offset the use of another fuel such as natural gas or coal occurs in about one-third of the operational projects.



The emerging area of LFG is producing alternative fuels. There has been successful delivery of LFG to a natural gas pipeline as a fuel, according to the EPA, and LFG has been converted to vehicle fuel as compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas. There are also projects in the planning stages to convert LFG to methanol.

LFG projects save money

Using LFG to provide power or heat generates revenue from the sale of the gas, and creates jobs for communities. Businesses save money by using LFG, and some companies can even save millions of dollars over the life of their LFG projects, the EPA states on its website.

Businesses are not the only ones that can save money by using LFG for power or heat. The LFG project developed in 1997 in Maryland Heights, Missouri for Pattonville High School saves the school $40,000 a year. The Fred Weber Sanitary Landfill runs a 3,600-foot pipeline run from the landfill to the school’s two basement boilers. The school is less than a mile from the landfill. To develop the project, the school received a $150,000 loan from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and a $25,000 grant from the St. Louis County Solid Waste Commission. Fred Weber invested $220,000 for the pipeline construction.

From New Mexico to Ohio

The City of Albuquerque, in New Mexico, will develop a LFG project to heat water in the Metropolitan Detention Center. The City Council unanimously approved the $1 million project earlier this month. The landfill already has 46 wells that extract the gas, but it’s burned off and not used in order to avoid releasing a greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. The EPA is contributing $500,000 to the project, the city about $300,000 and the county about $230,000.

The Houston-based Elements Markets LLC recently made its LFG-to-pipeline project in Amsterdam, Ohio public. The project is at the APEX Sanitary Landfill which is located on 1,285 acres, and receives about 1.8 million tons of waste a year. It is one of the fastest growing landfills in the U.S., according to a press releaseby Elements Markets. The project will produce over 32 million of British Thermal Units (MMBtu) of biomethane, enough to power 19,000 homes. It is expected to be in operation in 2013.

Article from  http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/01/landfills-provide-electricity/ 
This photo is courtesy of CT Recycling Guide.