SHENZHEN is promoting LNG (liquefied natural gas)-powered garbage transfer vehicles for green development. It is expected that all garbage collection and transport vehicles will be powered by clean energy by the end of 2024 to reduce carbon emissions by nearly 4,600 tons per year, according to the city’s garbage transfer vehicle transformation plan.

The promotion is part of Shenzhen’s efforts to achieve its carbon peaking and neutrality goals. Since 2018, the city has started promoting new energy sanitation vehicles, and as of now, the sanitation vehicles’ electrification has reached 85.1%, according to Shenzhen Municipal Urban Administration and Law Enforcement Bureau.

However, the garbage transport truck is heavy-duty and has high requirements for endurance and climbing power, with the pure electric vehicle facing challenges to meet its daily operation needs.

As a result, many garbage transfer vehicles running in the city are still diesel-driven, which poses a new challenge for the city to reduce pollution and carbon emission in the sanitation field. The LNG-powered garbage transfer vehicle, instead, could perfectly resolve the problem.

On Friday afternoon, Wang Cheng, a garbage transfer vehicle driver, drove his vehicle away from a waste transport station at the high-tech park in Nanshan District.

“The vehicle can run over 400 kilometers with a full tank of [LNG] gas, with only 15 minutes needed to top it up again. Compared with two hours’ recharging to enable a 200-kilometer drive, this is now much more efficient,” Wang said.

Wang became a garbage truck driver in the city in 2007 and witnessed the transformation of the city’s garbage transfer vehicles.

“From diesel to electric, and then to LNG, the operation is similar, but diesel is not environmentally friendly while electricity only offers limited capacity. In general, the LNG-powered garbage transfer truck is the best,” Wang suggested.

In February, Futian District put the first LNG garbage transport vehicle into use. So far, the vehicle has run 325 times, transferred 3,330 tons of garbage, and accumulated mileage of 35,587 kilometers, according to the report.

The cost of LNG garbage transfer trucks is only 60% of that of pure electric ones. The combined operating costs of LNG transfer vehicles are 5.3% lower than that of diesel ones. In addition, an LNG vehicle is less likely to lead to spontaneous combustion.

It also meets national emission standards and could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 24%, nitrogen oxides by 40%, sulfur dioxide by 99%, particulate matter by 100%, according to the city’s urban management authority.

The city has replaced 65 garbage transfer vehicles with LNG ones as of now and will put more new energy garbage transfer vehicles into use to contribute to the city’s green and low carbon development.

(Wang Jingli)