Now this is sustainable: a garbage truck that runs on the trash it collects. The British borough of Huddersfield adapted their Smith Edison municipal garbage truck to run on electricity, which is created at the Energy from Waste power station that processes the trash and turns it into energy. The truck also has a 40kWh lithium-ion battery that provides the truck with a max speed of 50mph and a range of 100 miles.
From Register Hardware, via Inhabitat:
The van … will glide around central Huddersfield collecting rubbish from 25 newly installed “split bins” and take said trash to the Energy from Waste (EfW) power station-cum-recycling centre just down the road. There, the rubbish will be burnt to generate electricity that will be used to charge the van for the next days collection runs.
Of course, powering ‘leccy vehicles is not the Emerald Street EfW’s main role – on a good day it pumps around ten megawatts into the National Grid, all generated from fire-consumed rubbish that has been collected locally.
Right now, there’s only one recharge point for Kirklees Council’s single electric vehicle, but some form of electric car recharge infrastructure may well grow out of it. It’s a small start, but it’s exciting all the same.
Link [Register Hardware] via [Inhabitat]
