Going White for Green Savings

Going green is all the rage these days.  Manufactures of everything from cars and trucks to lawnmowers and bicycles are releasing ‘Electric’ models in the fast-growing segment, as public pressure mounts to preserve the environment and move away from fossil fuels.  But not everyone is new to the “Green Machine” format.

E-Crane Worldwide, a Belgian-based supplier of cranes for heavy duty bulk and scrap handling applications, has been producing all-electric E-Cranes since the 1990’s.  The Equilibrium Crane or “E-Crane” is not just any electric crane.  It is the most energy efficient crane in the market.  The parallelogram boom and moving counterweight ensure the E-Crane is in near perfect balance throughout the working range, which in turns demands minimal energy for movements.

Traditional equipment for handling bulk materials and scrap metal are based on the classic excavator platform from the construction and mining segment.  The base machine is a diesel engine to power hydraulic boom, stick, grab and tracks (or wheels) to manoeuvre around the site.  The E-Crane, with longer outreach, is typically mounted fixed, and uses electrical energy directly from the grid.

To compare, we pick an E-Crane 700B Series and a typical 45 ton Excavator / Material Handler. With E-Crane, the user will reduce their energy expense by 91% to $12,000 per year for electricity versus $132,000 per year for diesel fuel.  They will also decrease overall CO₂ emissions by an astounding 95% to 57 tons per year from 1140 tons per year.

One Year Comparison : Cost of Energy & CO2 Emissions

Legend:

But the savings doesn’t stop there.  In many developed countries, especially Europe, Governments have been deploying CO₂ emissions taxes.  Rates vary wildly from $5 per ton CO₂ in Chile to $190 per ton CO₂ in Sweden.  The EU average is $25 per ton CO₂ annually for direct emissions.  That is to say, the user pays nothing for the electric E-Crane plugged into the grid.  But the tax liability for the diesel material handler will exceed $28,000 per year.

Altogether including taxes and energy, the E-Crane costs only 7% of the diesel material handler for the same performance characteristics.  In this case, it pays to go Green.