The Oldenburg hydrogen-powered garbage collection trucks are suitable for refuse collection vehicles. This is the conclusion and result of test drives carried out by the waste vehicle manufacturer FAUN on behalf of the waste management company Stadt Oldenburg (AWB) for two weeks in August last year on various routes in Oldenburg.
Based on the measurement values collected during the tours, the manufacturer has now determined how a hydrogen-powered garbage truck suitable for Oldenburg should be configured. The project was supported by EWE GASSPEICHER GmbH and the business development of the city administration.
“The evaluation gives us important insights,” says AWB operations manager Volker Schneider-Kühn. A large amount of specific data was collected during the test drives: How often does the garbage truck stop so that the garbage cans can be loaded and emptied? How long does the barrel emptying take? How many kilometers does the vehicle cover on its tour and in what time? How much energy is required for the individual steps? A value of 209.4 kW was determined as the maximum energy requirement in daily use, which served as the assessment basis for hydrogen-based vehicle design. To meet this energy requirement, six tanks, each with a capacity of 2.1 kilograms and two fuel cells, would be required. “That’s enough for two tours in one day, each with ten tons of waste. The environmentally friendly drive technology would not have any negative effects on the quantity collected. We would not have to change any tours, ”emphasizes Volker Schneider-Kühn.
“Together with our partners, we will now deal intensively with the results,” announces the AWB operations manager. The AWB is supported in this process by EWE GASSPEICHER GmbH and the City of Oldenburg’s Economic Development Agency, which coordinates the hydrogen activities within the administration and takes care of subsidies. The goal of EWE GASSPEICHER GmbH is to establish climate-friendly hydrogen in the metropolitan region Northwest in the areas of industry, energy supply and transport in the long term. EWE sees advantages in the use of hydrogen as an energy source, particularly in the heavy load sector. “In order to be able to purchase a vehicle, we hope to receive funding,” says Schneider-Kühn.
A bachelor’s thesis at the AWB should also provide clues as to whether the use of a hydrogen-powered vehicle makes sense. Rainer Poppen, student of the “Public Administration (BA)” course at the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, analyzes the AWB fleet during his practical semester and checks the economic aspects of converting to low-emission garbage trucks. Acquisition costs of around 250,000 euros are estimated for a conventional waste collection vehicle. Because the AWB’s 16 vehicle fleet of garbage trucks will have replacement purchases in the coming years, Operations Manager Schneider-Kühn sees “enormous potential in the future to improve the environmental balance in the long term”.
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