A conversation with John Anderson, Vice President and General Manager, William F. White Ltd. Vancouver.

Pacific Green:  John, first congratulations on the White's Goes Green program and leading the way with a Pacific Green Carbon Offset Program.

John:  Thanks, it's been a long time coming and in the West was originally pushed by our former GM Greoge Margellos.  Now myself and close associate, Nav Degun, have helped to move the Vancouver program forward.

PG: Since motion picture production is a large industry in British Columbia with locations scattererd all over the Province are they able to "plug-in" anywhere?

J: Hardly at all.  It's difficult to predict where and how any show can access hydro power so with such a demand for electricty for lighting there is little other choice than to generate power with large trailer mounted generators.

PG: So part of the White's Goes Green progam is to offer bio-fuel capable generators.  How is that working out?

J: Firstly, our generators can run on bio-diesel in concentrations from B5 to B20.  This fuel is readily available from Super-Save Fuels (604 984 2429) and if sufficient quantities are required, they will consider any requests to have a bulk tank drop shipped to a specific location. Obviously, this would be based on quantity (viability) as well as logistical considerations.There is now a growing network of bio-fuel supplers here.

 PG: What do you mean "B-5 to B-20"?

J:  Essentially the number refers to the percentage of bio-fuel product mixed with regular diesel.  So B-5 is 5% bio and so on.

PG: Are there any issues when switching over to bio?

J: Yes and none of them are big enough to prevent the change.  Predominantly the bio tends to clean the impurities existing within the fuel system. So until the system is running "bio-clean" it is pretty well necessary to clean the fuel filters every day for about a week to 10 days.  I know of a production in Vancouver that is bio-clean and their fuel filters were gunked up for days and then suddenly the screens were crystal clear.  It's also important to have a very well maintained engine, worn hoses and poor connections will be put to the test with bio.

PG: So how effective is it in reducing emissions.

J:  Here is a bit of data from a spec sheet provided by Cummins Diesel relating to the emissions from the most commonly found diesel engine in our fleet, and the most commonly found in movie style generators in Vancouver (1500 amp).

This data relates to emissions when the engine is burning ordinary diesel, (that’s how Cummins tested it), and should be considered as a baseline set of results. Other factors that should be taken into account are…..

If the generator will be running bio-diesel , it is estimated that you should, Allow for a 3% reduction in PM, CO and HC if using B5.  Allow a 1% reduction in NOx, a 6% reduction in PM and CO and a 10% reduction in HC if using B10. Allow a 2% reduction in NOx, a 12% reduction in PM and CO and a 20% reduction in HC if using B20.

PG: Has Whites taken any steps, other than bio diesel, to reduce generator emissions?

J:  Our generators are fitted with crankcase gas recovery systems, which eliminate the emissions of combustion gases and vaporized oil from the crankcase. It is impossible to quantify just how much of a positive effect this apparatus has, since so much depends upon variables such as engine load, engine temperature and engine age. However, it is universally accepted as a significant contributor to reducing emissions, so much so, that they are fitted standard to new truck engines.

We've also fitted Diesel Oxidation Catalysts to our generators. There is an added percentage reduction in CO of 72%, a 4% reduction in NOx, a 26% reduction in PM and a 60% reduction in HC. These tests were conducted by Natural resources Canada.

PG: John, this has been a very informative discussion and I sure the visitors to the Green Shoots section of the Pacific Green web site will benefit.  

J: Thanks.

Stay tuned for a future blog piece from John Anderson, General manager of William F. White, Vancouver, B.C.