Visy Recycling aims to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of its recycling truck fleet by up to 10 percent, as
Visy Recycling aims to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of its recycling truck fleet by up to 10 percent, as it begins a trial this week with a new dual fuel system fitted to one of its recycling trucks in the Whitehorse City Council area, in Melbourne.
“When we saw the technology from Green Fuel Systems International (GFSI) we realised that we have possibly found a way to further reduce our carbon footprint and our emissions,” says Steve Boland, Divisional Director, Visy Recycling.
If Australia continues to carry on in a business as usual manner, by 2020 emissions in the transport sector will be 104.8 million tonnes (Mt), according to projections by the Australian Greenhouse Office. It forecasts truck emissions to grow across Australia from about 27 Mt in 2008 to 36.4 Mt by 2020.
“Climate change is the most important challenge that Australia faces today, and business must respond by reducing its carbon footprint as much as possible,” Boland says.
“This is a serious situation, business has to respond to it immediately to minimise the effects of green house gas emissions on the environment and our changing climate.
“If this trail is successful, it will help us to reduce our own emissions using the GFSI dual phase induction system in the remainder of Visy Recycling’s truck fleet.”
The GFSI dual fuel system uses diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to fuel the vehicle.
“The gas is inducted into the air stream then the diesel fuel is injected into the cylinders making the whole process much more efficient and reducing the amount of green house gasses being burnt,” Boland says.
The vehicle is a Volvo SL side loader, it is 29 metres long and can collect approximately 4.5 tonnes of recycling material per load.
“Except for the dual phase technology, this vehicle is identical to the vehicles we currently use to collect recycling across Melbourne,” Boland says.
It is hoped the trial will also reduce particle borne pollution from the test vehicle by between 60-70 percent, improving air quality.
The vehicle is also expected to be quieter to operate.
The vehicle will travel around 4,680 kilometres during the trial and will collect over 320 tonnes of recyclable material.
The vehicle has been tested at the Kagan Batman TAFE vehicle test laboratory where its emissions, power and fuel consumption have all been sampled and checked.
At the end of the trial the vehicle will have the results reconfirmed at the Kagan Batman TAFE to determine how effective the dual fuel system is in delivering better engine wear and tear, increase fuel efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The trial began on February 11 and will conclude on March 31.