A single food truck running for eight hours on a gas-powered generator is like burning 83 pounds of coal when it comes to releasing carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases that contributes to climate change and dirties Colorado’s air.
Multiply that one food truck by the 10 that set up at a typical farmers market on a summer weekend in metro Denver, and an event aimed at promoting a more sustainable planet might just be doing more harm than good.
But installing equipment to eliminate the air pollution created by gas generators is expensive.
That’s why Colorado’s Regional Air Quality Council is rolling out a new program it calls Engines Off for Food Trucks, which will grant up to $20,000 to help food truck owners buy power systems that run on electricity to operate their refrigerators, coffee bean grinders, griddles and microwaves.
It’s one of two new programs from the council aimed at reducing air pollution along the Front Range.
Alex Maloof, who owns the Cafe Alejandro coffee truck in Boulder, received one of the first grants to buy a $16,000 Joule Case battery.
“One of the things I wanted to do was be silent and more environmentally conscious,” Maloof said.
But when he started the food truck 15 months ago, he couldn’t afford the Joule Case battery, so he used a gas generator.
“I hated it every single day, every single time I used it,” he said. “It was a noisy thing. A gaseous, terrible thing.”
After receiving the grant, Maloof now charges his battery pack overnight and then runs the equipment in his coffee truck off the battery the next day. Maloof’s customers can sip their Mexican mochas without listening to a loud engine or smelling its fumes.
The Regional Air Quality Council estimates that Cafe Alejandro will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 23,400 pounds over the next year, said David Sabados, a council spokesman. The electrical system also will reduce volatile organic compound emissions by 153 pounds and nitrogen oxides emissions by 105 pounds per year, he said.
“By leveling up the technology I could have the same business, but remove one of the negative things about it — the generator,” Maloof said. “I want to be the poster boy for the Engines Off program.”
Alex Maloof, owner of Cafe Alejandro, uses electrical power from a battery to run the espresso machine in his food truck in Boulder, Colorado, on Nov. 26, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
In addition to offering grants for food trucks, the Engines Off program also will work with schools to encourage parents to turn off their cars while waiting in pick-up and drop-off lanes and coordinate with local governments to launch anti-idling campaigns, Sabados said.
The Regional Air Quality Council also recently announced another new grant program — Clean Auto Repair — for people who drive old cars that cannot pass emissions inspections. Applicants can receive free repairs for catalytic converters, oxygen sensors, fuel line leaks and other malfunctions that lead to increased emissions.
Low-income people whose cars fail emissions inspections can apply for hardship waivers, but the council, which has a mission to reduce Front Range air pollution, wanted to do what it could to reduce toxic emissions from those old cars and trucks that people need for transportation.
The air quality council ran a smaller test and found that the cars repaired through its program reduced nitrogen oxides by 94% by getting the needed repairs, Sabados said.
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“Colorado is all-in for EV conversion,” Jacob LaBure, the air quality council’s program coordinator, said in a news release, “but that transition will take a generation. In the meantime, we need to minimize emissions from older gas and diesel cars as much as possible. This program is repairing some of the highest polluting passenger vehicles on the roads, improving air quality and protecting the health of those around high polluting cars.”
The two new grant programs are funded through federal highway dollars and distributed through the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Denver Regional Council of Governments. Grants are available through 2027 for residents in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties. Applications can be found online at raqc.org/our-programs.
While the programs alone are not enough to solve the Front Range’s air pollution problem, environmentalists believe every little step taken will help in the long run. That’s why they also have pushed increased use of electric lawn and garden equipment and electric vehicles. The state has until 2027 to lower its ground level ozone pollution to acceptable federal standards, and so far it is failing.
“We’re looking into new, creative ways to reduce emissions, and while these two programs won’t fix the problem alone, of course, they are another new avenue we’re pursuing because we see the potential for real emissions reductions, and the initial numbers are showing great results,” Sabados said.
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