Using Electric Power Tools in Habitat Restoration
Start Date
4-4-2023 4:00 PM
End Date
4-4-2023 6:00 PM
Abstract
The disciplines of forestry, habitat restoration, and ecological landscaping are often understood as having net environmental benefits, as they are mostly concerned with installing new plants that will create long term habitat and sequester carbon over time. However, the pollution that is emitted on such projects by large vehicles and gas power tools is often overwhelming, compared to the amount that is able to be captured and sequestered by newly installed plants, making many projects into a net source of pollution rather than mitigation. Research in the last 15 years has shown that two-stroke engines in gas power tools can generate between 100 and 300 times more air pollution per gallon than a standard pickup truck. This is often in the form of carbon monoxide and non-methane hydrocarbons that contribute to ground-level ozone, smog and local temperature increases. In California, small gas engine tools are now creating more ozone pollution than all of the passenger cars in the state combined, putting this issue on par with pollution from the passenger auto industry. With our Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir forests here in Oregon projected to decline, “green” disciplines need to reconsider how they can lower their environmental impacts quickly. One potential available solution is electric power tools, which are now suitable for professional use.
If chosen, this poster will develop further statistics on gasoline reduction from switching to electric power tools, and higher prevented emissions in relation to the lower carbon sequestration potential of plantings in habitat restoration projects.
Subjects
Air quality, Climate Change, Habitat restoration, Sustainable development
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/40469
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Using Electric Power Tools in Habitat Restoration
The disciplines of forestry, habitat restoration, and ecological landscaping are often understood as having net environmental benefits, as they are mostly concerned with installing new plants that will create long term habitat and sequester carbon over time. However, the pollution that is emitted on such projects by large vehicles and gas power tools is often overwhelming, compared to the amount that is able to be captured and sequestered by newly installed plants, making many projects into a net source of pollution rather than mitigation. Research in the last 15 years has shown that two-stroke engines in gas power tools can generate between 100 and 300 times more air pollution per gallon than a standard pickup truck. This is often in the form of carbon monoxide and non-methane hydrocarbons that contribute to ground-level ozone, smog and local temperature increases. In California, small gas engine tools are now creating more ozone pollution than all of the passenger cars in the state combined, putting this issue on par with pollution from the passenger auto industry. With our Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir forests here in Oregon projected to decline, “green” disciplines need to reconsider how they can lower their environmental impacts quickly. One potential available solution is electric power tools, which are now suitable for professional use.
If chosen, this poster will develop further statistics on gasoline reduction from switching to electric power tools, and higher prevented emissions in relation to the lower carbon sequestration potential of plantings in habitat restoration projects.