Companies unveil emissions reduction technologies near Port of LA

The two emerging technologies unveiled near the Southern California port Wednesday include one geared toward reducing airport equipment emissions, and the other designed to curtail emissions from drayage trucks.    Two emerging technologies – one geared toward reducing emissions of airport equipment and the other that could curtail emissions from drayage trucks – were introduced near the Port of Los Angeles Wednesday.
   During one presentation at the event, Benoit Lacroix, the co-founder and vice president of sales and marketing for Montreal-based Effenco Hybrid Solutions, discussed his company’s active start-stop electric hybrid technology, which eliminates engine use in heavy-duty trucks when they’re immobile.
   This is something that has the potential to greatly aid the drayage trucking community at ports where long queues of diesel-emitting vehicles can sometimes result in thick clouds of toxic smoke hanging in the air.
   The Effenco system, Lacroix said, is equipped with a powerful electric hybrid starter-generator linked to the engine through a drive shaft. The system uses the starter to restart the engine and does not add any load or wear to the existing electric starter and batteries. Acting as the system’s battery, ultracapacitors are used to store the system’s energy and provide power to the electric hybrid starter as well as the vehicle equipment when the engine is off.
   The other presenter, Sylvain Castonguay, is the president and CEO of Nordresa, a Quebec company that develops, manufactures and commercializes electric drivetrains for commercial vehicles.
   The company currently has two systems that are available and can be used as airport equipment, which include a cab forward truck, as well as an electric walk-in van with an upper range of about 125 to 150 miles.
   About 25 people were invited to the event, with nearly all being related to the Port of Los Angeles’ infrastructure, including terminal operators and tenants that use fleet vehicles, according to Jim Cooper, co-founder of Braid Theory, a Los Angeles area organization that helps entrepreneurs find corporate partners.
   Cooper said Braid Theory puts on such events for three reasons, which include business development, to solicit investment, and to provide information to interested parties that want to follow up with companies regarding the technology.
   The presenters during Wednesday’s event were brought to Los Angeles via an arrangement that Braid Theory has with the Quebec government to help craft an audience that would appeal to the two presenting companies, Cooper said.
   The presenters told American Shipper that although they have already commercialized their technologies elsewhere in North America, they are still trying to find partners for entrance into the California market.