City Pushes Battery-Run Leaf Blowers
Stymied in attempts to ban gas-powered leaf blowers, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday voted to spend another $1.6 million to bring to commercial markets battery-operated blowers as an alternative to noisier, exhaust-spewing models.
The city Department of Water and Power has worked for a year with AeroVironment Inc., which developed the prototype of a zero-emission electric blower that runs on batteries. The city has spent about $300,000 on the program to date.
On Friday, the council approved a five-year contract with Giltronics Associates Inc., a manufacturer, and AeroVironment calling for the city to provide $1.58 million for the initial manufacturing and marketing costs, and the purchase of 1,500 production units for field-testing.
Some of those blowers will be used by city employees, some sold to commercial gardeners and some have been requested for testing by utilities in New York and Arizona.
The deal gives the city the chance to recover more than double its costs in the form of a 5% royalty payment on each of the 250,000 leaf blowers proposed to be sold at hardware stores--beginning next September--during the five years.
The council two years ago banned gasoline-powered blowers in residential neighborhoods. A group representing gardeners vehemently opposed the ban, with members even staging a hunger strike in protest.
“It was the outgrowth of the city’s rather contentious battle a few years ago,” Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski said. “It will lead to a whole new generation of cleaner, more efficient tools, that will address the environmental impacts.”
The city has received 5,000 complaints but has issued only 300 citations--in part because the measure fails to ban methanol-powered blowers, and most gardeners simply switched fuels.
Judges have dismissed numerous citations, saying the city could not prove the blowers were fueled with gasoline. The program to mass-produce battery-operated blowers still faces a major test from gardeners.
“We still need to see whether the prototype is going to work in the field, and whether it will be economically accessible to gardeners,” said Adrian Alvarez, president of the Assn. of Latin American Gardeners of Los Angeles.
The big question: Will the new units be powerful and durable enough for commercial gardening?
A prototype weighs 10 pounds less than gas-powered models, matches the blowing strength, and has a battery that can run from 30 minutes to two hours before it needs changing, according to Thomas Zambrano of AeroVironment.
A battery backpack allows gardeners more mobility than existing electric blowers, which must be plugged by cord into an electric outlet, he said.
City officials say the battery-operated blowers will very likely carry a retail price of about $350 to $400, about the cost of gas-powered leaf blowers already on the market. Alvarez said a financial assistance program may still be needed to persuade gardeners to give up their blowers for the new models.
Reaction from manufacturers of existing leaf blowers has been somewhat muted. Barbara Lucas of Black & Decker called the city’s decision to enter the market “odd” but company officials did not elaborate.
Councilman Mike Hernandez defended the city’s unusual foray into the private marketplace.
“It didn’t come from the private sector. It came from the public sector,” Hernandez said. “It’s something that nobody else has done.”
With more than 100 California cities having adopted either bans or limits on gas-powered blowers, those involved in the project predict there is a major market for the new model.
The city’s action Friday was hailed by Nancy Steele of the California Air Resources Board.
“Reducing exhaust emissions and noise will benefit leaf blower operators . . . and bystanders who often complain about the noise and pollution, and will clear the air for all of us,” she said.
