The waste management and city cleaning department (ASF) of the city of Freiburg in south-western Germany likes to play a pioneering role when it comes to reducing the city’s CO2 footprint. As early as 2017, an electric street sweeper was purchased in a pilot project and tested in comparison with a diesel model from the same manufacturer. There was funding of EUR 82,550 from the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. At the time, Badenova contributed a further EUR 108,300 from the innovation fund for climate and water protection. The manufacturer charged around EUR 300,000 for its electric sweeper, almost three times as much as for the diesel model. The difference was almost made up for by the funding.
When operated with green electricity, the 27 tons of CO2 of the diesel engine used in the comparison were completely saved. Good news for the residents: The noise emission is also 70% lower with the electric road sweeper.
4 years later, the ASF is still not CO2-neutral. But the pursuit of a low carbon footprint continues. For the pilot project “emission-free district cleaning”, 6 electrically operated cargo bikes were recently purchased, which were specially converted for the purpose of the ASF. Such a converted bike costs 17,000 EUR. Again, there was plenty of funding. The city’s climate protection fund covered 80% of the costs.
In the past 3 employees drove together to the city districts with a diesel utitlity vehicle for cleaning, where it then collected and transported back the waste swept up by the employees. In the pilot project, every employee gets his own electric cargo bike with which he can work decentrally. The CO2 savings of the pilot project are estimated at 12.8 tons of CO2 per year.
Photo: Patrick Seeger – City of Freiburg