March 8, 2022
A study of greenhouse gases emitted in 2019 reveals that the transportation sector accounted for the largest portion (29%) of total US GHG emissions, according to EPA. A recently published report by the New York-based NGO Energy Vision digs deeper into the specifics of the transportation sector’s greenhouse gas emissions; the report, titled The Refuse Revolution, states the following: “Waste and recycling collection trucks and other heavy duty truck and bus fleets are a vital focus. While they make up just 4% of the US vehicle population, they consume a whopping 20% of all vehicle fuel and emit nearly 25% of our transportation greenhouse gases.”
Heavy trucks like those in waste and recycling fleets traditionally run on diesel fuel, which, EPA states, has impacts on human health, the environment, climate change, and environmental justice. The waste and recycling sector alone is home to some 180,000 heavy trucks. In its report, Energy Vision focuses on the refuse sector “because they have historically been major polluters of urban air and contributors to climate change.” Eliminating the impacts of these fleets, according to the report, “will require a wholesale transition away from petroleum fuel and towards propulsion systems that run on low- or no-carbon renewable resources.”
The report analyzes the benefits of a number of alternative methods of powering refuse fleets. These include biodiesel and renewable diesel, fossil and renewable natural gas, hybrid technologies, battery electric vehicles (BEVs), DME, and hydrogen, each of which is assessed for cost, performance, and climate and health impacts.
Given the growth of the BEV market, it’s not surprising to find that the report devotes space to this possible alternative. However, the report observes, at present there are fewer than 50 fully electric refuse trucks on the road, and their cost is nearly 70% higher than diesel trucks. Furthermore, despite the absence of tailpipe emissions, the electrical grid into which electric trucks plug is still primarily derived from fossil fuels. Also, the report finds, “the weight of the batteries required to propel a refuse truck, which leads to range/route concerns, reduced payload capacity; increased wear and tear on brakes, tires, and the road can result in high levels of particulate matter (PM) pollution.”
Of the other alternatives, the report comes down emphatically in favor of fleets powered by renewable natural gas (RNG), which it describes as “a double climate-change-winner… its production involves trapping and refining the methane biogases that are emitted by decomposing organic wastes, which would otherwise escape into the atmosphere with a potent climate warming impact.”
Secondly, “RNG fuel cuts greenhouse gases (GHGs) from 50% up to 300% relative to diesel… RNG is the only fuel today that can be net carbon-negative. By replacing diesel in refuse trucks, the use of RNG also cuts health-threatening tailpipe emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) by 90% or more, and cuts tailpipe particulate matter emissions by 60% or more.”
Further advantages of RNG include cost (which is higher than diesel, but not so much that the difference can’t be recouped); the increased numbers of RNG facilities in the US (more than 200 today, compared to less than 40 in 2016); and the fact that there are already 10,000 refuse trucks powered by RNG. Its production potential could result in a decrease in petroleum demand of up to ten billion gallons a year.
Despite the growth in RNG production, its current output is only five percent of its potential. If its output is increased by only three times (to 1.5 billion gallons a year), “would get us halfway to the Methane Pledge target just set by the Biden Administration to cut methane 30% by 2030.”
"We need to prioritize clean energy strategies that reduce methane," said Energy Vision's founder Joanna Underwood. "Fleet managers are not making procurement decisions in a vacuum; they're connected to a complex web of global climate and environmental issues. The Refuse Revolution is a resource to help navigate it, and choose the options that will do the most good."
By Robert Kropp, NERC Bookkeeper/Office Manager
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