The city of Waiblingen has purchased a street sweeper for EUR 1,070,000. However, the first thought “it must be made of pure gold” does not apply. Rather, it is a hydrogen-powered machine using fuel cell technology. Since such machines are not yet available off-the-shelf, the city has probably borne part of the development costs through the purchase price.
A majority of the local council had decided to procure the machine after a commitment on a financial grant of EUR 720,000 had been received. This means that the acquisition cost for the street sweeper was around 100,000 EUR more expensive than a battery-electric street sweeper.
The opposition party “Freie Wähler” criticized the exorbitant amount. Building mayor Dieter Schienmann, however, describes the acquisition as a “signal for the future”.
And so the new sweeper should have actually saved around 35 tons of CO2 a year – compared to a diesel-powered machine. “Should have”? Yes, because there is a little catch. The hydrogen filling station in Waiblingen that should produce H2 from regenerative energy doesn’t even exist yet. So far, the location for the construction has not even been clarified.
Instead, the sweeper now drives every 1-2 days to the neighboring community of Fellbach to refuel. However, there is no green hydrogen in Fellbach, but one that produced CO2 emissions itself when it was produced. With the efficiency of fuel cell technology, which is still quite low today, not much is gained in the end.
But the machine definitely has one advantage for the citizens. It is quiet and only water vapor and no exhaust gases are produced at the place of use.
Hopefully Waiblingen will soon find a location for its regenerative hydrogen filling station to round off the project.