It is not uncommon knowledge that construction sites are a huge emitter of toxic pollutants. A large portion of these emissions is from the heavy machinery used in these projects. As electric vehicles begin to increase in popularity, a few companies are making strides to introduce electric-powered machinery into the construction industry.
Among these companies is Skanska, a construction and
development company based in Sweden. They began taking steps towards lowering
emissions by using hydrotreated vegetable oil as fuel in their machinery, phasing
out diesel use completely. Using
one million liters of HMO, 3,000 tons of CO2 emissions were prevented from
being released into the atmosphere. This lowered emissions but they wanted
to switch to completely green technology for their equipment, hence the integration
of heavy electrical machinery.
The major concerns were the effective battery life and power
source. The equipment manufacturer Liebherr created a series of electrically
powered equipment called Unplugged, producing a promising outlook. The LB 16
piling rig, for example, has a battery life that can last 10 hours (more
than enough for a shift) and can then be plugged into a 63 A
power source and fully charged overnight. Even more impressive, the Unplugged
electric crawler crane LR-1250.1 can fully charge at an alarming 4.5 hours when
connected to the same power supply. When Skanska ran its first all-electric
trail in Sweden, it reported a 98% reduction in on-site emissions, a 70%
reduction in energy costs, and a 40% decrease in operator costs.
But with any new technological advancement, a major drawback
of these innovations is the price, and these machines are no exception, costing
25% more than their diesel-burning counterparts. However, due to the machinery’s
simplicity, they have longer maintenance intervals, so the price gap
essentially becomes an investment that will pay itself off over the machine’s
lifetime, and due to the increase in popularity and improvement of battery
technology, that price gap is predicted to close in the next decade.
You did a great job with this post! I love learning about different ways that people are finding to use machinery and make every day actions, like construction more environmentally friendly.
ReplyDeleteI am getting a little lost reading some parts of the post. Maybe you could make the pictures a little smaller so that we could read the sentences in more of a line rather than stacked on top of each other? You don't have to do that, it's just a suggestion.
It's an interesting way to reduce emissions in a infamously dirty industry. I'm curious to see what other steps are being taken to reduce emissions for related things like concrete production or material shipping.
ReplyDeleteSuper post. A key concept you don't mention is the Learning Curve which will greatly reduce cost as production of these technology increases. This creates also a sort of argument for some government subsidy at the outset of valuable new technology to increase adoption and production, and thus reduce price. Check this out: https://policonomics.com/learning-curve/
ReplyDeleteIt seems like we have the technology to reduce our emissions in pretty much every industry but not the will to. It is interesting to hear about how companies are reducing their impact on the earth.
ReplyDeleteIt’s exciting to see electric machines cutting emissions on construction sites. The fact they’re quieter and cost-saving long-term makes this a smart step forward.
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful way to get emissions down, and the statistics that you shared are already looking promising. Green energy is needed everywhere and I am glad to see there is work to put green energy to work for construction sites as well.
ReplyDeleteI'd imagine these huge construction vehicles take an immense amount of fuel and energy so finding an alternative would be good.
ReplyDeleteThe cost and emission reduction figures are quite strong, and I like how you discuss the advantages and difficulties of this change. It's an encouraging look at how innovation could advance sustainability in industries that have historically produced a lot of emissions.
ReplyDeleteThis shift in construction is a great example of how industries can adapt to greener alternatives without sacrificing efficiency. Hopefully more companies can follow Skanska's lead.
ReplyDeleteI have always known that construction equipment has been giving off toxic pollutants, but I am glad that the people are trying to make a better alternative and switch to electric construction vehicles. I am glad that technology is evolving in a positive direction.
ReplyDeleteThis is so interesting! I had no clue such technology exists. I wonder is subsidies or tax incentives might help soften the blow of initial adaptation?
ReplyDeleteI imagine incentives like this would help substantially. The largest drawbacks of the newest innovations that are being put into practice are the initial costs, so maybe subsidies would encourage companies to incorporate them
DeleteThis is a very interesting topic! Construction already is such a nuisance, and it seems to be always happening just about everywhere you go, so the last thing we need is machinery that further emits carbon into the atmosphere. I wonder with the switch to electric vehicles, what will happen to the discarded gas powered machinery? Is there a way to recycle some of these materials in building the new electric equipment?
ReplyDeleteThat is a super interesting point! Although the electric machinery contains much simpler mechanisms, I'm sure there is a way to incorporate the old hardware.
DeleteThe drastic difference between energy costs and on-site emission reductions is an incredibly positive output but the 40% operator cost decrease is not so great for the operators. The tradeoffs are more significant than I thought!
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