Considering fuel alternatives for Calgary’s waste-collection and recycling fleet

The City of Calgary will study the financial and technical feasibility of various fuel alternatives for its Waste and Recycle Services (WRS) fleet. The fleet is currently composed of 250 heavy-duty diesel vehicles that travel city streets weekly to collect waste and recycling. The study will look at electric-battery, compressed natural gas, electric–diesel hybrid and hydrogen alternatives. In addition to helping Calgary identify suitable alternate fuel technologies for the fleet, the study’s findings will help the city analyze transition options based on triple bottom line considerations, and develop a business case and implementation plan to pursue this initiative as a pilot project. Calgary hopes to demonstrate that this initiative has the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 20%, reduce fleet operating and maintenance costs, optimize long-term lifecycle cost–benefit scenarios, and lower both noise and air pollution. This study aligns with Calgary’s Climate Resilience Plan, which has set a greenhouse gas reduction target of 80% by 2050 (from 2005 levels). It also aligns with the city’s electric and low-emissions vehicle strategies, as well as its Corporate Energy Strategy Plan. Innovative aspect(s): • The study intends to provide a comprehensive collection and compilation of data that goes beyond what is normally use for similar studies, and therefore should allow for more informed analyses and decisions • Alternative fuel studies have tended to focus more often on passenger and light-duty vehicles; this study will contribute knowledge to the lesser-studied area of heavy-duty refuse vehicles, which require a lot of energy due to additional performance requirements (performing lifts, garbage compaction, etc.) Replicability: • This study is designed to be replicable to other types of vehicles or other municipal services, and the city is likely to apply it to other service areas • This study could also be of interest to any municipalities that do not outsource their waste collection services (Project description from original funding application)