Wal-Mart Makes Money Being Green
Wal-Mart generated much excitement with an RFP to bring solar power to 300 stores. Wal-Mart is making more green investment as it sees early returns in investments already made.
Long distance trucks are vital to moving the goods. These big trucks are powered by efficient diesel engines, often achieving 25% better mileage than gasoline engines and 50% better than ethanol. These trucks will be one of the last vehicle types to switch to cleaner fuels or to use hybrid drive systems. Diesel engines are efficient, the infrastructure is there, and the fleets are replaced slowly. There are, however, many ways to make these diesel trucks more energy efficient.
Wal-Mart operates 3,300 trucks that in 2005 drove 455 million miles to make 900,000 deliveries to its 6,500 stores. Wal-Mart has set a goal of doubling the fuel efficiency of its new heavy-duty trucks from 6.5 to 13 miles per gallon by 2015, thereby keeping some 26 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the air between now and 2020. Green Car Congress
A big loss for Wal-Mart and all long distance truckers is that engines are left running at stops for many auxiliary needs including air conditioning, heating, running electronics inside the cab and more. Wal-Mart installed small diesel engines for auxiliary power units on all trucks. Wal-Mart installed APUs in 100% of its trucks during the past couple years, saving them 25 million a year in fuel costs and reducing carbon output from their trucks by 100,000 cubic feet per year. Bob Sutton
Wal-Mart worked with the Rocky Mountain Institute to introduce new trucks with many energy saving improvements including better aerodynamics, transmissions and tires. Wind skirts under the trailer significantly reduced wind resistance and improved mileage. Wal-Mart combined the two wheels normally seen on a rear axle into a single wheel that is not quite as wide as the sum of two wheels. This gives a smoother ride and better fuel economy from the reduced surface area and improved tire wall stiffness. Wal-Mart also has more than 100 hybrid light-duty vehicles fleet, with plans to double its hybrid fleet.
Wal-Mart saves diesel fuel both with vehicle technology and common sense. By working with its suppliers, Wal-Mart is fitting more goods in smaller and lighter packaging. More goods move in a truck without adding weight. Fuel is saved. Wal-Mart is also disciplined about keeping tires properly inflated. Small economies over 455 million miles create big results.
Wal-Mart is respected by other large fleet operators. They may implement a number of Wal-Mart’s approaches to fuel efficiency. For-hire carriers in 2004 operated 675,000 trucks; the top 10 include such companies as UPS, Federal Express and Yellow Roadway. Within Federal Express' 70,000-vehicle fleet, the company operates 30,000 medium-duty trucks, of which less than 100 use hybrid diesel. Some six million additional vehicles are owned by private commercial fleets such as Sysco, Wal-Mart, Halliburton and Frito-Lay. Verizon operated 70,000 trucks and cars in 2004. Waste Management operated about 28,000 vehicles in 2004.
Unlike Wal-Mart, other major carriers may depend on electrified stops instead of an APU. Long-distance trucks waste enormous quantities of fuel running their engines on idle. For many drivers, this is there only way to run the electronics in the cab including air conditioning, heating, communications, GPS map systems, and television. Drivers are legally required to pull over after driving too many hours to dine, relax and get some sleep. Auxiliary power is needed for hours.
To the rescue are an increasing number of electrified truck stops. Here the driver can pay to use grid electricity and shut-off the engine. The EPA even offers a free website for drivers to locate the nearest electrified stop.
EPA
John Addison is the author of the upcoming book Save Gas, Save the Planet. He publishes the Clean Fleet Report and is a popular speaker.
Labels: alternative energy, cleantech, Cleantech Blog, energy, green tech, greentech
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posted by John Addison @ 4:29 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
keep in mind that a diesel engine uses much less fuel at idle than a gasoline engine since a diesel does not have to maintain a 14 to 1 air fuel ratio to insure that a combustible mixture exists.
also keep in mind that a diesel engine that is off uses 100% less fuel than the same engine at idle.
they should start offering diesel performance you can give any dodge, ford or chevy diesel truck more performance by simply plugging in a chip!
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