City Of Grand Rapids: New Eco-Friendly Vehicles To Reduce City Generated Greenhouse Gases

Press release from the City of Grand Rapids:

November 17, 2021

City’s eco-friendly fleet will be enhanced to include seven electric, six hybrid/electric, 77 hybrid/gas and nine compressed natural gas vehicles

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Action taken Tuesday by the Grand Rapids City Commission furthers the City’s climate resiliency goals by potentially reducing up to 91.5 metric tons of greenhouse gases annually.

Last evening, the City Commission accepted a $1.441 million grant award from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Fuel Transformation Program and Volkswagen State Mitigation Trust for City fleet vehicle replacement. The grant will allow the Facilities and Fleet Management Department to replace 12 vehicles with new diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. The new vehicles will help the City reduce diesel emissions, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and improve air quality within Grand Rapids. The expected annual reduction of 91.5 metric tons of greenhouse gases is equivalent to removing 19.9 passenger vehicles from service.

Prior to Fall 2023, six pre-2008 diesel dump trucks with underbody scrapers will be replaced with six new, more efficient diesel dump trucks; two diesel broom-type right-side sweepers will be replaced with a CNG sweeper and a hybrid electric/CNG sweeper; and four diesel refuse trucks will be replaced with four CNG refuse trucks. Per grant requirement, all vehicles being replaced must be decommissioned and destroyed to a point where each can never be put back into operations again. All these older vehicles were scheduled to be replaced as a part of the City’s current asset management plan. With the new purchases, the City’s eco-friendly fleet will be enhanced to include seven electric, six hybrid/electric, 77 hybrid/gas and nine CNG vehicles.

Annabelle Wilkinson, environmental and climate justice specialist, said sustainability is one of the City’s core values. On Sept. 28, 2021 the City Commission passed a “Resolution Declaring Climate Change a Crisis” which outlines an ambitious goal to power all municipal operations with 85% renewable energy by 2030 and net zero by 2040.

“Air pollution from diesel emissions has negative effects on human health and the environment,” Wilkinson said. “Diesel emissions can impact respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological systems. It also harms wildlife and the environment by contributing to the formation of smog, acid rain and ground level ozone which can cause considerable damage to plants, agricultural crops, animals, habitat and ecosystems.”

Kent County is one of 10 counties in Michigan that is designated by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services as high asthma burden areas. The Facilities and Fleet Management Department has tracked the emissions from its operations since 2008. It is in the final stages of the creation of its first emissions reduction goals for its operations. In 2020, the City’s fleet fuel consumption accounted for 11% of the total emissions for municipal operations. Emissions from the City’s fleet were the second largest emissions source in 2020 (electricity was the largest source of emissions). Diesel, gasoline and CNG accounted for 56%, 38% and 6% of the total emissions from the City fleet, respectively.

“The new, more efficient diesel vehicles will reduce fuel consumption and emissions,” Steve Prins, acting director of facilities and fleet management, said. “The newer diesel emission equipped dump/plow trucks will reduce diesel particulates and nitrogen oxide emissions released into the atmosphere by up to 98% over the older diesel vehicles. These along with the new CNG refuse trucks and hybrid sweeper will help reduce the City’s carbon footprint, improve air quality, and mitigate climate change. We believe that this grant will help us achieve our sustainability goals and improve the wellbeing of our residents.”

The grant covers approximately 40% of the cost of the new vehicles and requires a match not to exceed just under $2.3 million, paid by the City’s Motor Equipment Fund.

This press release was produced by the City of Grand Rapids. The views expressed here are the author’s own.