The Alternate Route

Editor's note: this story originally appeared in the October 2007 issue of Lawn & Landscape.

When it comes to alternative fuels, James McNew cuts to the chase. “Right now, everything is sort of a mess,” he says. The vice president of technical and marketing services for the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, Old Town Alexandria, Va., McNew is more than skeptical about the use of alternative fuels like propane, ethanol and biodiesel to power landscape trucks and equipment. It’s not that he doesn’t support the environment or a domestic, renewable fuel supply. It’s just that he’s yet to see the proof that it will work – and work well. “Our position on alternative fuels is that they’re not bad if introduced in the right places and in the right ways,” he explains. “Renewable fuel is the right thing to do in this country, but we need to be smart about it and make sure we’re not creating more problems than solutions.”

ELECTRIC ENGINE OPTIONS

An alternative to alternative fuel involves vehicles that run on electricity. For example, hybrid cars combine an internal combustion engine that runs on gasoline and an electric motor powered by batteries. The combination allows the electric motor and batteries to help the conventional engine operate more efficiently, cutting down on fuel use, while the gasoline-fueled combustion engine overcomes the limited driving range of electric vehicles.   Sampuran Khalsa, owner of Nanak’s Landscaping, Longwood, Fla., is one contractor who recognizes the benefits of hybrids. Last year, Khalsa remodeled his company’s fleet of non-production vehicles with seven hybrid Toyota Priuses, which get about 50 miles per gallon, and 30 high-efficiency Toyota Scions, which get about 30 miles per gallon – a move that will save Nanak’s 15,000 gallons of fuel this year alone.   One challenge Nanak’s encountered was a cultural change of deviating outside the pickup truck, the standard vehicle in the landscape industry. “Employees were reluctant at first to drive these smaller vehicles, but once they got into them and started getting positive feedback from our customers and people in the community, a general sense of enjoying being in the forefront started to happen,” Khalsa says, adding that, in time, he hopes to increase the efficiency of the firm’s 300 production crew vehicles as well.   All-electric vehicles, or EVs, are also on the market. EVs do not have internal combustion engines, and are recharged using electric power grids. Tesla Motors, a San Carlos, Calif.-based manufacturer of EVs, says benefits of these vehicles include reduced dependence on foreign oil, zero emissions and a cost of less than 2 cents per mile driven. While there are more electric cars than trucks available today, some manufacturers are entering the fleet market. For example, Phoenix Motorcars in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., produces zero-emission, freeway-speed fleet vehicles, including electric trucks and SUVs for commercial fleet use.   Battery-powered equipment is also popping up in the landscape industry. After a year of researching various methods of alternative fuels, Kelly Giard, founder of Clean Air Lawn Care in Fort Collins, Colo., decided electric equipment was the most sustainable choice. The company currently has 10 branches throughout the U.S., all of which operate with battery-powered push mowers and hand-held equipment. Current battery technology is not strong enough to operate riding mowers, which Giard runs on biodiesel, he says.   Giard’s battery-powered machines are charged with solar or wind power. It takes four to eight hours to fully charge a machine, which will run for about one hour, he says. This can create problems, such as having to haul multiple backup machines to each job. Batteries also tend to drain more quickly if a lawn is at all wet, Giard says. But benefits include healthier employees, cleaner, quieter equipment, and total independence from the need for fuel. “The economic plus is we don’t have to buy gasoline, and electricity is cheap,” Giard says, adding that it costs $5 to $10 a month to charge his eight to 10 push mowers.   Giard has been encouraging manufacturers to improve the technology. For example, current mowers do not come with interchangeable batteries so once its battery dies, the entire mower is out of commission until it’s recharged. Giard compares it to the cell phones of the early 1980s vs. the high-tech options available today. “In the next five years, I think we’ll look back and laugh at the equipment we’re using now,” he says, adding that as battery technology improves, the machines will improve.   Hydrogen is an energy carrier similar to a battery and is also a contestant in the alternative energy race. Hydrogen-powered vehicles are currently available on a very limited basis – 200 public vehicles existed in the U.S. as of April, according to information from the Gale Group. Most of these vehicles are found in California, where the bulk of the research on them is taking place. Additional research indicates that hydrogen-powered outdoor equipment is not far behind. A recent breakthrough in fuel-cell design could make hydrogen-powered systems practical in machines as small as lawn mowers and chainsaws. Prior to this research, fuel cells were inefficient on such small scales due to the need for fuel recycling and excess hydrogen in standard designs. The new design allows for 100 percent of the fuel to be used and eliminates the need for a fuel recycling system.   Kurt Bland, owner of Apex, N.C.-based Bland Landscaping, says he is anxiously awaiting the appearance of hydrogen-powered vehicles on the market, but adds there are many challenges to overcome before that can feasibly happen. One such challenge is the need for hydrogen fueling stations, and another involves the safety of working with hydrogen, which is an explosive gas. “Hydrogen vehicles will be the future of transportation, but I don’t think we’ll see any real progress on them for at least the next 10 years,” Bland says.

Alternative fuel is a hot topic right now as many people look for ways to lessen their environmental footprints. A myriad of bills addressing the issue are currently floating through Congress, and state regulations are popping up left and right controlling emissions of everything from blowers to buses. After weeding through the governmental jargon, it seems most everyone agrees that gas prices and the country’s dependency on foreign oil are too high. Coming to an agreement on when and how to combat this problem is the hard part. “This issue is in its infancy, so it’s difficult to gauge the future demand and what it will evolve to,” says Garry Busboom, director of research and development, Exmark, Beatrice, Neb. “It’s hard in an emerging market to look into a crystal ball and see what will happen down the road.” 

But solid proof does exist that alternative fuels can run vehicles and equipment just as well as gasoline or diesel, and landscape industry pioneers in this area can speak on the pros and cons of making the switch. Most admit that, initially, some flexibility, homework and financial investment are required. But after the kinks are worked out, operating a business in a greener, more responsible way is relatively easy, not to mention rewarding. “I don’t call myself owner of a green company, but a greener company,” says Kurt Bland, owner of Apex, N.C.-based Bland Landscaping, and an avid user of biodiesel. “I haven’t changed everything; I’ve just made one more responsible decision.”

IN THE BEGINNING. The use of alternative fuels spans back farther than many people may realize. For example, a 2006 exhibit at the Los Angeles Petersen Automotive Museum showcased a 1917 Woods dual-power car with a gasoline engine coupled with an electric motor-generator, similar to a modern-day hybrid car. While the current rise against global warming has motivated many people to be “green,” one can argue that alternative fuels became a fore-front issue with the Clean Air Amendment of 1990. With this bill, Congress overtly acknowledged for the first time that changes in motor fuels and their compositions contribute to reducing exhaust pollution. The act created two new gasoline standards to reduce fuel emissions in highly-polluted cities, and also required gasoline to contain fuel oxygenates, or cleaner-burning additives.
 
Ethanol is one such additive that contributes to cleaner-burning gasoline and is arguably the oldest alternative fuel, used in the Ford Model T back in 1908. It’s an alcohol-based fuel produced by fermenting and distilling starch crops like corn, barley and wheat that have been converted into simple sugars. Since 2000, corn used for ethanol production increased from 628 million bushels, or 6 percent of that year’s crop, to 2.15 billion bushels last year, accounting for 19 percent of production. The USDA estimates that the increase in ethanol production will drive the demand of corn used for fuel to 3.4 billion bushels this year, more than one-quarter of the expected crop. Ethanol is usually used to increase octane and improve the emissions quality of gasoline, and most often comes in the form E85 – a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
 
Many major vehicle manufacturers have at least one model that is E85 compatible, and all major auto manufacturers approve the use of up to E10, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition. Some companies, like Ford and General Motors, have flex-fuel vehicles that are capable of running on either gasoline or E85. Like with most alternative fuels, accessibility is one of ethanol’s biggest drawbacks. According to the NEVC, there are 6 million E85-compatible vehicles in the U.S. today, but because only about 600 of the country’s approximately 170,000 gas stations carry E85, most of them run on gasoline.
 
In addition, according to the NEVC, ethanol has an energy content of 10 to 20 percent lower than gasoline; however, this can vary depending on factors like how a person drives, tire air pressure and weather conditions. Contractors must also keep in mind that while E85 is the accepted alternative for gasoline engines, diesel engines require E95 – a blend of 95 percent ethanol and 5 percent gasoline. Fueling a diesel engine with gasoline higher than 5 percent lowers the flash point, or the lowest temperature at which a liquid can form an ignitable mixture, to unacceptable levels.
 
McNew predicts biofuels like ethanol will receive the biggest push in the alternative fuel market, especially with the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which mandated an increase in ethanol production from 4 billion gallons per year in 2006 to 7.5 billion gallons per year by 2012. But before ethanol is considered the end-all solution to the country’s energy enigma, everyone needs to be aware of the impacts. “In the political world, people are asking, ‘Can we increase the ethanol from current levels? How will the growth of the ethanol market affect the current fuel supply?’” McNew says. “There are a lot of great questions, but so far there aren’t any great solutions.”

BUYING INTO BIODIESEL. Biodiesel, produced from organic sources like soybeans, cooking oil and animal fats, is also causing a stir when it comes to alternative fuels. It can be used in its pure form (B100), but is usually blended with petroleum diesel to improve cold weather performance and also for cost efficiency reasons. The most common form of biodiesel is B20 – a blend of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel. 

 
Some contractors use biodiesel in their day-to-day operations and have found the pros outweigh the cons, especially once the initial kinks are worked out. Bland actually stumbled across the opportunity to participate in a biodiesel experiment lead by the Triangle Clean Cities Coalition, a Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based group founded in 1999 to reduce dependence on petroleum by promoting alternative fuels. The experiment simply aimed to discover if people who used biodiesel for a period of time would continue to use it once the experiment was over.
 
After researching the program, Bland decided to participate and contributed three trucks ranging in age from 10 years to brand new to the experiment. He saw only favorable results – less soot, a cleaner smell and better gas mileage, to name a few. He also noticed his employees found the process interesting and everyone felt good about doing something beneficial for the environment.
   
By the time the experiment ended eight months later, Bland was sold on the idea of biodiesel. He began to seek out biodiesel manufacturers and found a local supplier who had just received the funding to turn waste products into 1 million gallons of biodiesel per year, and the companies created a partnership. The whole transition took 18 months, Bland says, adding that today about 47 of his 95 vehicles run on B20. He plans to eventually convert all of his gasoline-run vehicles to biodiesel, but says currently it’s not financially possible. “It’s a phasing-in process,” he says. 
  
Adrian Mondello, founder of Redwood Landscaping, Boulder, Colo., is another contractor who believes in alternative fuels. He has used B50 in his company’s trucks and equipment for the last five years. The decision to switch from regular diesel fuel was for both employee and environmental health reasons. But Mondello has found that it’s also helped business because environmentally conscious Boulder residents appreciate the company’s extra effort to lessen its environmental impact. “It creates a sort of trust between us and our customers because they know we’re not out there just for the quick buck,” he says.
    
Mondello agrees that biodiesel can be difficult to come by, so the company came up with a plan to alleviate the problem. For around $300, Redwood’s employees built a fueling station that can hold 150 gallons of fuel, which is delivered to the company about every three months. Another problem with biodiesel is its tendency to freeze in the winter due to its high gel point. During Colorado’s coldest three or four months, the company simply switches to 100 percent diesel. “The use of alternative fuels just takes a little bit of adjustment to make it work,” Mondello says. “Those who are against it are basically just too lazy to figure it out.”
    
Like with any alternative fuel, there are factors contractors need to consider when using biodiesel. First of all, it’s relatively easy to come across a bad batch tainted with water and other contaminants that can decrease the fuel’s efficiency or even destroy an engine. For this reason, it’s important for contractors to ensure that all of their biodiesel is tested and certified according to ASTM (American Society for Testing & Materials) standards, and stored in a way that preserves its quality. The National Biodiesel Board suggests users request certificates of analysis from their suppliers prior to use.
 
Biodiesel marketers and producers can further establish their credibility by joining the National Biodiesel Accreditation Program’s BQ-9000 Quality Management Program, a voluntary program for the accreditation of producers and marketers of biodiesel fuel. The program is a combination of the ASTM standard for biodiesel and a quality systems program that includes storage, sampling, testing, blending, shipping, distribution and fuel-management practices. According to its Web site, the program helps companies improve their fuel testing and greatly reduces any chance of producing or distributing inadequate fuel. To receive accreditation, companies must pass a rigorous review and inspection of their quality control processes by an independent auditor. BQ-9000 is open to any biodiesel manufacturer, marketer or distributor in the U.S. and Canada. There are currently eight BQ-9000 certified marketers and 19 BQ-9000 certified producers.
 
The risk of contaminated biodiesel is why Bland uses B20 rather than B100, he says, adding that some manufacturers will void a vehicle’s warranty if they can prove use of improper fuel was the cause of its system’s failure. “Using biodiesel can be risky,” Bland says. “There are people out there making faulty biodiesel, so every batch you buy has to be tested.”
 
Cases of faulty biodiesel are some of the strongest and most common arguments against the fuel, and not many things can deter a contractor faster. Alternative fuels like biodiesel and ethanol have been known to soften and degrade certain types of elastomers and natural rubber products like fuel pumps and hoses over time, and can also result in product failure, particularly in machines with smaller engines, McNew says. “Ethanol blends higher than 10 percent could be detrimental, particularly to small engines that aren’t meant to run on it,” he explains. “I can see it being used for larger vehicles rather than outdoor power equipment.”
 
While some manufacturers discourage the use of biodiesel, the Engine Manufacturers Association says B5 can safely be used in most engines. But the fact remains that any biodiesel – whether B5 or B100 – needs to be tested. Bland notes the “urban legend” his mechanic told him about the contractor who had to spend $12,000 to replace his truck’s fuel system after using contaminated biodiesel. “The source failed to mention that he’d been using homemade biodiesel that had never been tested,” Bland says, adding that these fears shouldn’t stop contractors from researching the use of biodiesel. “Sometimes the whole story doesn’t get told.”

COST COMPARISONS. At the time of Bland’s conversion, biodiesel cost more than $1 more per gallon than gasoline or diesel fuel. But as gas prices have skyrocketed, the price of biodiesel has stayed relatively the same. Most days, gasoline and biodiesel are just about equal, while biodiesel is usually 10 to 20 cents more per gallon than regular diesel. For example, on July 9, Bland paid $2.97 per gallon for on-road biodiesel. At the pump, gasoline cost $2.97 and diesel cost $2.85. “To convince some environmentally unconscious contractors to pay 10 cents more for biodiesel would be a hard sell,” Bland says. “I realize that I’m giving up 12 cents a gallon when I use biodiesel over regular diesel. I’d like to keep that margin, but it’s a cost I’m willing to pay for children in this area to breathe cleaner air.”
 
Although more expensive, Bland credits this year’s extra $1 million in revenue to his choice of more efficient fuel. For example, he traded in two gasoline-powered trucks that averaged 8 to 10 miles per gallon for a biodiesel-powered van that averages 25 miles per gallon. Although he’s so far spent $12,000 more on gas than last year, he’s only gone over this year’s estimated fuel budget by $4,000. “If you can produce $1 million worth of work on $12,000 worth of fuel, that’s pretty damn good,” he says.
 
Bland admits the availability of biodiesel clearly affects its cost, and that he’s lucky to have several biodiesel suppliers in his area, which is conveniently surrounded by an urban farm community. Research from the National Biodiesel Board shows there are currently 148 active commercial biodiesel production plants in 41 states around the U.S. that produce 1.39 billion gallons of fuel annually.  

And more plants are popping up regularly. This past August, the largest operating biodiesel plant in the nation opened in Grays Harbor, Wash., with an annual production capacity of 100 million gallons. As more contractors catch on to the idea of alternative fuels, availability will increase, Bland says. “Right now people in general are reluctant to try it,” he says. “But if you look at a map and identify who’s using it, you can see that it’s starting to spread like an epidemic.”

PROPANE PLAYERS. While most of the focus regarding alternative fuels is on vehicles, contractors also have options when it comes to equipment. Propane is the byproduct of natural gas processing and crude oil refining and is often referred to as liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG. According to the Propane Education & Research Council, propane is the nation’s third most common engine fuel after gasoline and diesel, is clean-burning, nontoxic and evaporates if spilled. Propane can be used in both light- and heavy-duty vehicles including cars, trucks, forklifts and buses, and is already used somewhat in the landscape industry. A handful of manufacturers, including Dixie Chopper and Enviroguard, have commercial propane-powered mowers on the market, and others have equipment in the works.
   

When considering the benefits of propane, some may wonder why more propane-powered equipment is not available. Exmark’s Busboom says there are some obstacles that need to be tackled for propane-powered equipment to be readily accepted. Because propane is a pressurized fuel, manufacturers don’t have the same flexibility with fuel-tank shape and size as they do with gasoline-powered machines. Typically, a propane tank needs to be about 67 percent larger than a gasoline tank in order to run for the same amount of time before having to refuel, Busboom says. In addition, propane-powered engines will generally produce about 10 to 15 percent less horsepower than an equivalent gasoline-powered engine, he says, adding that customers may not be as happy with the performance of a propane-powered mower as compared to the gasoline units in their fleets. To achieve the same performance as a gasoline-powered mower, contractors would need to purchase a larger propane engine option, if available, which adds to the cost premium of the propane-powered mower.
 
Other potential problems with propane mowers are fuel availability and the ease at which contractors can refuel their machines, Busboom says. Some companies, like Exmark, are currently working with engine manufacturers to encourage the development of systems that can better handle alternative fuels.
 
Dixie Chopper introduced its first propane-powered mower in late 2005 in response to emerging legislation restricting the emissions of on-road vehicles. “We knew it was just a matter of time until these restrictions trickled down to off-road equipment,” says Matt Land, national sales manager for Dixie Chopper, Coatesville, Ind. “Rather than wait until it was mandated, we decided to go ahead and get started.”
 
Acceptance has been – and still is – rather slow, Land says, adding that most resistance stems from contractors being unaware of its environmental and economic benefits. Many contractors have also questioned the safety of sitting between two propane tanks and a hot engine. However, because propane doesn’t emit vapors, it has safety benefits gasoline doesn’t, Land says. “People cook steaks on propane grills, so it doesn’t make much sense to be afraid to mow grass with a propane-powered mower.”
 
In terms of cost, propane can cut fuel expenses in half and can be purchased anywhere propane tanks are sold, like gas stations and even Wal-Mart. For example, when gasoline cost $3.58 per gallon, propane cost $1.72 a gallon. Dispelling the idea that propane-powered equipment isn’t as efficient, Land says the energy in a gallon of propane is just about equal to that of gasoline – as long as it’s used in a mower with an engine specifically designed to run on propane. “Propane gets a bad rap because many believe it doesn’t have the power of gasoline,” Land says. “Propane has different properties, so when people try to convert gasoline engines to run on propane they can see a good 20-percent reduction in power, which is significant loss of performance.”
 
Land says this type of bad experience can deter contractors from the propane path. The fact that propane-powered mowers can cost about $800 more than their gasoline counterparts can also discourage budget-conscious contractors. But most commercial contractors can quickly make up that difference in fuel savings. “Most accountants will say a three-year return on investment is good,” Land says. “That extra $800 could be made up in three weeks in fuel savings alone.”
 
While most contractors aren’t jumping on the propane bandwagon just yet, some may soon have no choice. McNew says that government regulations will slowly but surely increase the demand of propane- and electrically-powered equipment. For example, there are four counties in Arizona that have implemented restrictions on noise and pollution caused by outdoor power equipment. “Contractors in those counties can use gasoline-powered machines only if an alternative is not available,” he says. “Propane and electric machines are the only types legally allowed in those areas. That type of demand is happening and will continue for sure.”

GETTING THERE. It’s this customer demand that McNew says is necessary for the mass use of alternative fuels like ethanol, biodiesel and propane to be viable in the future. But until manufacturers sense a demand for new types of equipment, available options are likely to stay as they are. “It’s sort of a chicken-and-egg scenario,” he says. “There is not a lot of incentive to be the first manufacturer creating something new. The guys that jump out ahead of the curve generally loose money, but create the momentum for someone else to make money.”
 
Land couldn’t agree more. He and others at Dixie Chopper have been somewhat frustrated with the slow acceptance of their propane-powered mower. Although sales have doubled each year since the mower’s 2005 introduction, Land predicts selling fewer than 500 this year, compared to about 15,000 gasoline-powered riding mowers. He expects sales to spike in the next few years as more municipalities find ways to be green, adding that Phoenix’s local government recently placed orders for propane-powered mowers. “Anytime a company pioneers into a new market with a new concept it takes a little while to catch on,” he says.
 
Governments also can encourage the use of propane by extending on-road tax incentives to apply to off-road equipment, Land says. Currently there are numerous tax incentives for people who use or produce alternative fuels, as well as a federal income tax credit of 50 cents per gallon for people who run propane-powered forklifts. “If legislators would apply that incentive to propane mowers, that much more money could go in contractors’ pockets,” he says. “Most contractors don’t mow grass from dawn to dusk because they’re nice guys, but because they’re trying to make a living. If they can save money using propane they’ll do it.”
 
Education will also be an important component of creating awareness on the topic of alternative fuels, and Brian Feehan, managing director of engine fuel programs for the PERC, Washington, D.C., says it’s on the way. For example, the council is currently in the middle of a comprehensive marketing campaign to publicize the development of a new propane-powered F-150 pickup truck. The truck’s new liquid injection technology gives it the same horsepower, torque and pulling capacity of its gasoline-powered counterpart. The council plans to spread its message through trade shows, trade publications, advertisements and manufacturer partnerships. “With this new truck, customers will see no difference in ability, and that’s a substantial change,” Feehan says. “We went into our pickup truck development program knowing customers using alternative fuels want the same performance as conventional fuels and we were able to meet that challenge.”
 
Some state or federal standards will also have to come into play for manufacturers to provide appropriate equipment to run on alternative fuels, McNew says. Today, Environmental Protection Agency standards require an oxygenate in fuel for emissions reasons and mandate that most machines be able to run on 0 to 10 percent ethanol. But as individual states adopt their own ethanol standards, manufacturers will have a hard time keeping up. “Some states are saying they’ll accept fuel with 15 percent ethanol, while others are agreeing to 30 percent,” McNew says. “When you have different levels of ethanol around the country you’re getting outside that operating window of 0 to 10 percent, which can create issues with engine material compatibility.”
 
So it seems those involved in the world of alternative fuels have come to three primary agreements: today’s gas prices are too high, the country’s dependency on foreign oil is too strong and alternative fuels need to be tested and standardized before they’re used. And most also agree that now is the time to work out the kinks. “People sometimes have a negative connotation to alternative fuels because they think it’s just a bunch of hippies trying to save the world,” Bland says. “But really it’s responsible people from responsible companies making responsible decisions.”