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California Is Banning Small Engines. Here's What It Means
The Drive ^ | 10/14/21 | Rob Stumpf

Posted on 10/15/2021 7:41:50 AM PDT by Yo-Yo

CARB says there are 16.7 million small engines in the state compared to 13.7 million passenger vehicles, drastically affecting emissions.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation that aims to ban the sale of gas-powered lawn equipment, generators, and other small engines designed for off-road use.

This new law builds from the executive order signed by Newsom in 2020 that bans the sale of new passenger cars powered by internal combustion engines in 2035. In the same order, Newsom calls for "100 percent zero-emission off-road vehicles and equipment," the phaseout of which must now be road mapped by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2022 and officially put in place by 2024.

The text of the signed bill specifically calls for the banning of small off-road engines (SORE), calling out emergency response equipment and generators as well as both residential and commercial lawn equipment.

However, the SORE category expands past the named items. CARB officially defines SOREs as off-road spark-ignition engines that produce 25 horsepower or less. Other equipment examples given by the board include industrial, logging, golf carts, and specialty vehicles. It's not yet clear how this will affect small off-road recreational and sport vehicles like ATVs and dirt bikes, though most exceed that 25-hp threshold.

“Small gas engines are not only bad for our environment and contributing to our climate crisis, they can cause asthma and other health issues for workers who use them,” said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a co-sponsor of the bill. “It’s time we phased out these super polluters, and help small landscaping businesses transition to cleaner alternatives.”

There are currently 16.7 million small engines in California, according to a fact sheet supplied by CARB. That's significantly more than the state's fleet of 13.7 million passenger vehicles. Approximately 77 percent is made up of residential lawn and garden equipment, while federally regulated construction and farming machinery make up 11 percent. The remaining 9 percent is attributed to commercial lawn and garden, which may be hit hardest by this legislation.

These fleets of small engines are responsible for a substantial amount of the state's emissions. In fact, CARB says that running a leaf blower for an hour is equivalent to driving a 2017 Toyota Camry for 1,100 miles.

Marc Berman, author of the legislation, recognizes that the transition to battery-powered equipment will be a hardship for some small businesses. He says that California will pledge approximately $30 million to aid commercial businesses, but given that there are around 50,000 outfits in the state that'll be affected by the change, that works out to around $600 each.

According to financial figures supplied to the Los Angeles Times by Andrew Bray, vice president of government relations for the National Association of Landscape Professionals, that simply isn't enough. A gasoline-powered commercial riding mower could cost a business anywhere from $7,000 to $11,000, while the zero-emissions equivalents often cost more than twice that.

Equipment cost aside, there are also logistical concerns. For example, Bray believes that a three-person crew would need to carry as many as 40 fully-charged batteries to complete a full day's work. Additionally, these small companies may even need to upgrade their workshops to handle the daily charging of this equipment.

Legislators have their concerns as well. Given California's history of brownouts and power grid problems, some lawmakers like Senator Brian Dahle say that banning critical fuel-based power backup mechanisms like generators makes no sense.

"[Fuel] is very sustainable. It’s easy to access. And when the power is off, you can still use it," said Dahle. "You can still run a generator to keep your freezer going, to keep your medical devices going. But when your battery’s dead and there’s no power on, you have nothing.”

California will require that the ARB determine the regulations which will govern small engines no later than July 1, 2022. The adopted regulations will be put in place 18 months later on Jan. 1, 2024.


TOPICS: Agriculture; Business/Economy; Outdoors
KEYWORDS: california; carb; globalwarming
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To: Yo-Yo
I posted this on Facebook:

https://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/california-law-bans-small-off-road-gas-engines-including-lawnmowers-and-chainsaws/292465

and it got banned.

Maybe they will start making pedal generators.

101 posted on 10/15/2021 9:43:09 AM PDT by MikeSteelBe (The South will be in the right in the next war of Northern aggression.)
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To: freeandfreezing

Watch the youtube videos gas versus electric chainsaws.There are hundreds of them.

Electric is beating the gas in cutting competitions. Electric chainsaws have more torque than gas.

A tree service company cut down two trees for me last week. They used a large gas for the main trunk but electric for the 5” and smaller branches. When larger units come out I bet they will switch.


102 posted on 10/15/2021 9:43:17 AM PDT by setter
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To: enumerated

Dang nab it...solar, why not solar? Maybe a hamster and a wheel? Ima get one....SAVE THE PLANET!


103 posted on 10/15/2021 9:43:24 AM PDT by Karliner (Heb 4:12 Rom 8:28 Rev 3, "...This is the end of the beginning." Churchill)
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To: MikeSteelBe
Maybe they will start making pedal generators.

... a perfect way for the kids to work off excess energy ...
104 posted on 10/15/2021 9:47:49 AM PDT by bankwalker (groupthink kills ...)
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To: MikeSteelBe
Maybe they will start making pedal generators.


105 posted on 10/15/2021 9:52:52 AM PDT by Yo-Yo (is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: cymbeline
I like how you got to that conclusion.

According to the EPA a 2017 Toyota Camry gets 33 mpg on the highway, so 1100 miles takes 33.3 gallons of gas (1100/33 = 33.33).

According to the Stihl website I cited a typical leaf blower uses about 50 ounces of gas per hour. The products they list range from 43 to 60, with a couple at right around 50 ounces per hour of fuel. A gallon has 128 ounces, so 50 ounces of gas is about 0.4 gallons (50/128 = 0.39)

For any internal combustion engine whatever fuel is burned by the engine turns into exhaust gases. (In theory some minimal amount of the fuel may end up as soot in the exhaust pipe, or fouling on a spark plug, but that's a miniscule percentage.) If the fuel you put into your car didn't get burned and the exhaust leave the car you car would get heavier and heavier over time. That doesn't happen.

So for the leaf blower and the car whatever fuel you put in and burn in the engine ends up in the atmosphere as gas. (And for the purists some amount of very fine solids in some cases like poorly tuned diesel engines)

The mix of gases emitted varies from engine to engine, but the total mass of fuel burned has to end up in the exhaust. Obviously it is good to have the most complete combustion possible and output CO2 instead of CO, or unburned hydrocarbons, or oxides of nitrogen. Well designed and tuned engines output more CO2 and less of everything else.

My calculation of the ratio 82.5 is based on rounding off 33.33 to 33 and 0.39 to .4. (33/.4 = 82.5). The exact ratio is 85.46 (33.33/0.39 = 85.46)

The main point is not to be mislead by fake comparisons from politicians. The Toyota makes much more greenhouse gases than the leaf blower. But suburban residents hate them and so Newsom is sending the regulators after them.

106 posted on 10/15/2021 9:54:32 AM PDT by freeandfreezing
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To: Yo-Yo

What about a 10 horsepower outboard motor on a 12 foot fishing boat? What about that boat in Lake Tahoe?


107 posted on 10/15/2021 10:02:43 AM PDT by Deplorable American1776 (I'm the one trying to save American Democracy...Donald Trump 6/21 at the NCGOP convention)
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To: Scrambler Bob

Playing with wires started with mowing the cord.

Ended with being a fully licensed low voltage electrician


108 posted on 10/15/2021 10:18:59 AM PDT by cableguymn (We need a redneck in the white house.... But the fact checkers said thein story was false!)
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To: GingisK; qam1

Believe qam1 means that the tool has a hooded or embedded male plug that is integral with the tool. No cord on the tool, simple plug female end of extension cord into the tool.

Our gripe is dragging 12 ga cords 25 feet and more always results in losing power.


109 posted on 10/15/2021 10:20:28 AM PDT by Covenantor (We are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and fools who can not govern. " Chesterton)
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To: Scott from the Left Coast

You know what socialists used for light to read by before candles?

Electric lights.


110 posted on 10/15/2021 10:38:23 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: setter; GingisK; cymbeline

The “hydrocarbon” emissions could very much be higher since they use oil that is largely unburnt in the combustion, but hydrocarbons are not the complaint of the environmentalist. That would be CO2.

The amount of CO2 is the same per gallon.


111 posted on 10/15/2021 12:02:40 PM PDT by babygene (hMake America Great Again)
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To: babygene

“The amount of CO2 is the same per gallon.”

Not so sure. Different combustion conditions can produce different proportions of CO2 and CO1 (carbon monoxide).

But maybe more than 90% of it is always CO2. I don’t know and would like to know.


112 posted on 10/15/2021 12:06:44 PM PDT by cymbeline
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To: Antoninus
Re: "They never cheat. CNN told me so."

They do not NEED to cheat in California.

35 years of massive immigration, which started with the Reagan Amnesty in 1986, has given the Political Left a permanent majority.

In 2021, Ronald Reagan could not win a state wide election in California.

113 posted on 10/15/2021 2:05:28 PM PDT by zeestephen
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To: Red Badger

I just can’t see them allowing nuclear battery.
http://web.mit.edu/nse/news/2021/nuclear-batteries.html


114 posted on 10/15/2021 2:30:04 PM PDT by jmcenanly ("The more corrupt the state, the more laws." Tacitus, Publius Cornelius)
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To: Yo-Yo

Sad.

A clown show turning into a sh!t show.

5.56mm


115 posted on 10/15/2021 2:42:32 PM PDT by M Kehoe (Quid Pro Joe and the Ho need to go.)
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To: Covenantor
Believe qam1 means that the tool has a hooded or embedded male plug that is integral with the tool. No cord on the tool, simple plug female end of extension cord into the tool.

Yes that is what I meant.

And that the male end is made of metallic Teflon so the female end of the extension cord always slips off.

116 posted on 10/15/2021 2:46:34 PM PDT by qam1 (There's been a huge party. All plates and the bottles are empty, all that's left is the bill to pay)
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To: zeestephen

That’s scary


117 posted on 10/15/2021 4:13:16 PM PDT by Karoo
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To: suthener

wow


118 posted on 10/15/2021 4:15:21 PM PDT by Karoo
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To: Yo-Yo

As asked by someone else here: How did liberals light their homes before candles? Answer: Electricity.


119 posted on 10/15/2021 4:52:35 PM PDT by BobL (I shop at Walmart and eat at McDonald's, I just don't tell anyone, like most here.)
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To: setter

I’m sorry, the chemistry just doesn’t work out for their assertion. The weight of enough fuel to drive 3900 miles verses the weight of the fuel to do the yard work clearly indicates they are incorrect. The yard tools do not create mass.


120 posted on 10/15/2021 5:42:18 PM PDT by GingisK
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