Their approaches are quite different, but they’re united by a common goal of bringing alternative energy to the trucking industry. So it should probably be no surprise that U.S.-based renewable energy specialist Green Road Energy has teamed up with the UK/Swedish sustainable technology developer Hultsteins to bring each other’s carbon- and cost-saving transport solutions to the other side of the Atlantic.
Based in Lakeland, Florida, Green Road Energy designs and manufactures systems that provide clean, low-cost electricity for auxiliary systems on trucks and trailers. The company’s flagship product, the TAG (turbine auxiliary generator) system, is a trailer-mounted device that uses simple wind-turbine technology to generate electricity for refrigeration units, liftgates, lights, and auxiliary batteries. As trucks drive down highways, the turbine blades rotate to harness roadway wind energy that would normally be lost, significantly reducing diesel fuel consumption, emissions, and operating costs.
Hultsteins has taken a different approach to clean-power generation. Its key product, the Ecogen2, is a slim-fit hydraulic drive generator that draws power for refrigeration directly from the tractor engine. The energy produced powers the trailer’s refrigeration unit on electric standby during transit, thereby cutting costs and virtually eliminating diesel emissions.
Hultsteins recently announced that one of its clients, the British food-service provider Reynolds Logistics, is testing Green Road Energy’s TAG systems on its temperature-controlled rigid units. Meanwhile, Green Road Energy says it has signed on to be the official distributor of the Ecogen2 in America.
“Both these energy-efficient systems are easy to retrofit and use inexpensive, basic technology to reduce running costs and slash harmful emissions,” Hultsteins’ UK managing director, Graham Usher, said in a release. “Ecogen is widely used in Europe and the TAG system is quickly making a name for itself in the U.S. Now with this new alliance, operators on both sides of the water can benefit from these innovative, non-polluting, and affordable alternatives to diesel power.”
