FEBRUARY 2013 GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL
project was now underway and he felt that chargers were not being used effi ciently or effectively. Quite possibly the handlers had used charging facilities as an excuse not to go further with the loader. Certainly, HAL would support this kind of GSE and he believed that in terms of progress, electric at Heathrow was now on the right track. Antony Pennington confi rmed that telematics worked perfectly well with electric GSE and that there were no problems with data capture. Mike Bradshaw, from Amicus, added that 12 years’ work had gone into this tracking solution, and that much had happened behind the scenes. Liaison with the customer was key to the whole thing and for him, the big benefi t was to be found in the reduction of idling time. Data capture was imperative now that the tools were so readily available. There followed a quartet of papers
specifi cally on alternative fuels. In the fi rst of these Paul Smart, of Environmental Fleet Services, spoke about the initiative that will see used cooking oil be transformed into biodiesel. In this, he was seeking support from any bodies within the area which had access to the raw material. Its use, he pointed out, would signifi cantly reduce CO2
emissions and there were known benefi ts arising from the use of biodiesel in engines, including those of better lubricity, better combustion and lower engine wear. Whilst mentioning biodiesel’s credentials, Paul added that 23.4 pounds of CO2
is
the heavier vehicles. Emissions reductions, he said, could be up to half those of a comparable CNG-powered vehicle. With an Iveco Daily truck, a 6% improvement in fuel effi ciency had been recorded, which backed up his assertions. The fi nal paper of the day, presented by Mike Dolman, looked at the introduction of hydrogen to the ramp. The main spur
required in the manufacture of one gallon of diesel: this fi gure was much lower for the equivalent quantity of biodiesel. Added to this was the fact that the vast majority of spent cooking oil produced in the south-east is, in fact, exported: the scope for a local, home-grown industry was thus signifi cant. Cenex’s Chris Walsh followed this paper with some words on biomethane vehicles. Today, there are two main sources of biomethane, namely anaerobic digesters and landfi ll sites. Vehicles are ready in the marketplace for those willing to take the plunge; and when it comes to the benefi ts of use, the best CO2
savings derive from
ENVIRONMENTAL UPDATE 37
to this initiative is that of the Hydrogen Transport in European Cities (or HyTEC) group, which boasts 16 partners working on the infrastructures of both London and Copenhagen. The audience was reminded that hydrogen per se was not a source of energy but rather that it was a carrier. Having reaffi rmed that, he went on to say that its high energy density was extremely useful and that there were many ways in which it could be manufactured. Fuel cells are known to be 40-60%
effi cient, which is effectively double the effi ciency of the internal combustion engine. Hydrogen and oxygen are utilised and with the by-product being water, the technology has much to commend it. According to studies carried out by the partnership, the only effective future path to zero emissions lies with the fuel cell and the signs are that the automotive sector is looking more and more at this solution.
Toyota, for example, has said that H2 powered vehicles will be on sale at under US$50,000 by 2015; Hyundai and Kia have started work on this power source, as have Daimler and General Motors. The London Hydrogen Partnership got underway back in 2002 and so far has confi ned its applications to taxis and buses.
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