According to the famous Muppet Kermit the Frog, “It’s not easy being green.” I think this is true for our environment and school bus transportation in particular.
Making “green” choices may lead to more challenges and more procedures, such as in making efforts to recycle cardboard, aluminum, glass, papers, and plastic. Making a “green” choice is often more expensive with no financial return, which is an even more difficult choice to make with reduced funding and tight school budgets in school transportation.
The real question that should be asked is, “Does making the green choice make good business sense?” If the answer is yes, then those “greening” efforts will be successful and help the bus operations as well as help our environment. If the answer is no, then the effort will likely only be initiated if mandated by laws or funded by the government.
Why do we care if the school buses are clean and “green?” Diesel exhaust is a known human carcinogen and especially harmful to children’s lungs. The problems associated with Particulate Matter and other pollutants in bus exhaust cause or aggravate conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, lung, and heart disease. The drivers and mechanics may be around these fumes as much or more than the children so they are also at risk.
Despite the fact that model year 2010 engines utilize clean diesel technology, most of the school buses on the road today are not new buses. School buses have a 12-year average service life, which means we could have many more years to be concerned about the exhaust emitted from idling buses. Keeping exhaust pollutants away from our environment is a good choice whenever possible.
What are some advantages to “going green” in school bus transportation? Making efforts for an aggressive idle reduction campaign as well as installing pre-heaters on the bus to prevent prolonged idling will save money. The schools, teachers, and parents can also get involved in idle reduction. There are free materials available through the EPA Clean School Bus USA program. These efforts also present opportunities for community publicity to promote the positive efforts made by the district or contractor to make the best use of scarce transportation dollars.
The question to ask about every green effort is, “Can I afford this green product?” A good business case can be made for use of fuel-operated heaters that eliminate the need for prolonged idling of a school bus for heat and defrost. “Can I afford this product?” The answer is yes. With the cost of diesel fuel at over $4 per gallon, the heaters will pay for themselves in about two seasons in fuel savings, alone. In addition, you will have reduced maintenance costs, reduced frequency of oil changes, and reduced labor costs associated with prolonged idling.
Over time, the fuel-operated heaters will actually give school bus operations a substantial positive cash flow as a result of reduced fuel costs and maintenance savings. This effort will also prevent tons of carbon and other pollutants from entering our environment.
The commercial trucking industry has widely adopted the use of fuel-operated heaters because the big fleets carefully study costs and recognize the financial benefits to their bottom line. The school bus transportation industry is also adopting heaters because of cost savings, idling laws, and warmer buses. One school bus that idles for two hours per day for heat and defrost on 100 cold days at $4 per gallon diesel can cost almost $800 per season going up in smoke. What are idling buses costing your fleet operations? Maybe it is actually easy being green with this option.
Paula Bishop is the manager of transportation and environmental affairs for Espar Heater Systems.
