Waste Management today added a 1000th natural gas truck to its fleet, making it the largest owner and operator of clean-running, heavy duty refuse trucks in North America.
At a ceremony at its Carson, Calif., property, the company commemorated the delivery of its 1000th natural gas vehicle with Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster starting up the new recycling truck that will serve his city's residents.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Waste Management Adds 1000th Natural Gas Truck To Its Fleet -- Not a Bakken Story
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Press release: http://www.wm.com/about/press-room/pr2011/20110712_Waste_Management_Reaches_1000th_Natural_Gas_Truck.pdf
ReplyDeleteThat is 8,000 gallons of diesel equivalent per truck per year. To crunch the numbers, if you divide the 8,000,000 million gallons by 1,000 trucks and figure a five day work week with holidays (250 days per year) you work out to 32 gallons of diesel fuel equivalent used each workday. The big dual rear axle WM trucks with all their hydraulics are almost "gallons per mile" (T. Boon Pickens compared one to over 200 cars).
Thus, the nat gas garbage trucks are probably a lot like the 22,000 GVW F-59 Ford chassis.
http://www.ford.com/commercial-trucks/strippedchassis/models/
Nothing wrong with that. These size trucks have gasoline engines so a natural gas, methane or propane conversion is easy. Just saying that these are probably smaller than the typical single axle "Leach" garbage trucks used in alleys here.
The Co2 saved is pure "Al Gore science" since CO2 is a beneficial trace gas. That said, as organics decay in landfills methane is produced. Like other unburned hydrocarbons it tends to produce "smog". Also it has a nasty "decay" smell to it. They originally had a perforated pipe system to capture it and flare the gas. Here in the Twin Cities this landfill gas is piped to refineries or nearby businesses as a "base" natural gas substitute. Some local landfills have small electric generation plants to use the gas, which is a bit like sewer gas.
It looks like Waste Management is going "full Monte" and refining the landfill methane into a natural gas substitute for the vehicles. Basically you dewater and cool to liquids for a reverse fractional distillation.
Nice touch! You probably wouldn't want to add this refined landfill gas to the existing natural gas pipeline but it will work fine in vehicles or as an industrial fuel.
It also gives a peek into potential future processing of methane hydrates which has the potential to match natural gas in total energy.
Of course those who worship "the Goracle" and ascribe to "Al Gore science" predict that doomsday will occur if we even consider methane hydrates. The "rent seeking" "Gorebot" have been totally wrong so far but hey, a broken clock is correct twice a day.
Hint: If you don't ascribe to "Global Warming-Climate Change-Global climate disruption (or whatever they call it this week) associate everything about it with "Al Gore". Recently, Al Gore praised presidential candidate wannabe Mitt Romney who soon dropped in the pools below Minnesota's own Michelle Bachman, who is totally against "Al Gore science".
the CO2 saved is
Greg,
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the great sound bites.
I do not subscribe to "Al Gore science."
The one number you did not crunch is all the free advertising Waste Management got today when this story was picked up and printed everywhere. It will end up in every Algore powerpoint presentation.
I hope someday they name a new Bakken oil field after Algore, but folks might confuse it with the prolific Alger field already there.
By the way, I think I know how Al Gore came up with "cap and trade." I posted it for a few days many months ago (maybe two years ago) but was afraid that I would be sued for libel or taken out in an alley to have my kneecaps bashed in, so I removed the post. I am 100% sure I am correct but don't need the liability risk for posting it. Someday someone else will publish it and I can refer back to this comment.