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With the proliferation of battery-powered equipment for material handling on a job site, it’s crucial to have a means for recharging in order to keep projects moving and on deadline.
A generator is the obvious solution, but many generators are diesel-powered and dispense harmful smoke and emissions, which defeats the purpose of using electric equipment in the first place.
Chuck Justus of Evergreen Mobile Power in Pacific, Missouri, is well aware of all this, which is why his company introduced the JuiceBox in 2013, a propane-powered generator that is rented and sold under the Green2Go Rental Power brand for many applications, especially material handling.
The benefits of propane power generation are numerous. First and foremost, propane generators, including the mobile JuiceBox, are easily introduced to job sites. Propane generators significantly improve local air quality, particularly by mitigating emissions both seen and unseen, like particulate matter — the black smoke that is emitted from a diesel generator — and nitrogen oxides.
Propane is also up to 40% less expensive than diesel and gasoline, and because it burns cleaner, there isn’t the strong odor typically associated with diesel or gasoline generators. Plus, they are typically smaller and run quieter, making them a solid choice for remote power.
Juicing Up Job Sites
The JuiceBox is a mobile, propane-powered generator that can be easily wheeled onto a job site to recharge items as diverse as forklifts, scissor lifts, pallet jacks, skid steers and small excavators. It’s compact, measuring 50 inches long, 50 inches wide and 54 inches tall. It can be easily moved from place to place, and it carries two 32-gallon propane tanks on board that can be seamlessly swapped out.
Propane removes harmful emissions at a job site, which benefits workers and management, and anyone else in the immediate vicinity, like homeowners. Propane generators reduce emissions substantially compared to diesel generators, including 24% less carbon dioxide emissions. Using renewable propane, or propane generated from feedstock like plants, wood waste or used cooking oils, can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 70% compared to diesel. Compared to gasoline generators, propane models produce about half as much carbon monoxide and far fewer greenhouse gases.
But there is another powerful reason to use a propane-fueled generator: reduced costs. It’s simply much more expensive to operate and maintain a diesel generator compared to a product like the JuiceBox. “There is a cost to operate that machine every hour, and the cost is fuel and maintenance,” Justus said. “Those things have a price tag.”
Since propane costs substantially less than diesel, Justus estimates it is $8 per hour cheaper to run a JuiceBox than a diesel generator counterpart. “That adds up really quick,” he said. “It’s hundreds of dollars cheaper to operate, considering fuel costs and maintenance.” Maintenance includes fuel filters for a diesel generator, which the JuiceBox doesn’t need, and the fact that a diesel generator has a larger oil requirement to operate — two gallons compared to two quarts for the JuiceBox. All of these factors keep budgets on track.
Consider also the fact that since propane by its nature is an extremely portable and clean-burning fuel, propane generators require less maintenance, which also has a positive impact on budgets. Propane is also a primarily domestic fuel; 90% of propane used in the United States, for a wide variety of applications beyond generators, comes from this country. That means the cost is stable and isn’t affected by geopolitical issues that impact diesel and gasoline prices.
Indoor Power Needs
But what about indoor buildings, like a warehouse, distribution center or manufacturing facility, that also may use propane forklifts and propane heaters? One possibility is Evergreen Mobile Power’s Rover Power Bank, which was introduced this year and is a key rental product. It’s a mobile, propane-powered charging station that can charge more than 20 tool batteries from any tool manufacturer, two-way radios, cell phones and other power tools.
Like the JuiceBox, the Rover Power Bank is compact, measuring 40 inches long, 36 inches wide and 69 inches tall, which means it can be stored in out-of-the-way locations until it’s needed. It uses two seven-pound propane tanks and can be used at a job site as well. It has enough power to operate for more than four days at a time.
Whether it’s reduced emissions and maintenance, cost savings, or portability, Justus is adamant that propane makes a lot more sense for material handling power generation applications than diesel.
“In the rental generator world, everyone wants clean power, but they want it to come from diesel,” he said. “Inherently, that’s not going to happen. We have to look at other things. Propane is easy. The infrastructure is already there, people are familiar with it, the supply is already there. Propane is a solution for today — it’s here today, it’s clean now.”
