Go carefully when going green  |  July 21, 2008  

I, and Backbone magazine are big proponents of using technology to reduce pollution and save energy. But not all green tech delivers, as both the TTC and I learned recently.

Take the new hybrid electric-diesel buses purchased by the Toronto Transit Commission. In its initial announcement, the commission said it expected to achieve fuel savings of 20 to 30 per cent. In use, the real savings have been in the 10 per cent range and, just to add insult, many of the big batteries that sit on top of these buses are only lasting half as long as the manufacturer Orion VII promised.

More details would be available here except that the Globe and Mail charges for access to its archived stories.

According to that Globe article, TTC chief general manager Gary Webster said the fuel efficiency shortfall is likely caused by the use of the buses on higher-speed suburban roads, as opposed to in stop-and-go traffic. It is the latter in which hybrid technology delivers the most benefit.

But - and here's my point - this was a known issue. Back in December of 2004 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported the exact same issue. From that article: King Country Metro concluded that "...the expected fuel efficiency has not been there. One apparent culprit is stricter federal emissions standards. Another could be that the hybrids are used on routes -- suburban express routes with more highway mileage -- where their advantages don't shine."

In other words, in faster traffic the hybrids don't do as well as when they are driven in stop-and-go downtown congestion. Sounds familiar?

Now, I am sure the TTC investigated all this and made what it believed was the best decision, but it does illustrate that going green is rarely as easy as it seems.

And here's another great example: in my editorial in our March/April issue I wrote that -- for now, anyway -- the only truly successful consumer-level green initiatives will be those that deliver a benefit while not imposing significant lifestyle changes on us. I suggested compact fluorescents would be a huge success, because you just screw in a different bulb and hey presto! Less pollution.

And then I got a great letter from Nick MacKinnon, president of OneLight in Vancouver. He pointed out that any time you are heating your house (which is often in Canada) a regular light bulb pumps out heat in addition to light, and extra heat may mean your furnace doesn't have to work quite as hard. 

I am not ready to give up on CF bulbs, but both this and the TTC's experience are good reminders that we should look both ways before embarking on environmental initiatives.

Peter Wolchak