Hamilton now has two ambulances on the road outfitted with technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the city's overall carbon footprint.

"Each one of those ambulances will save us nearly 11 tonnes (11,000 kilograms) of carbon dioxide equivalent," said Paul Johnson, general manager of the healthy and safe communities department.

It's part of an overall strategy to make the city's fleet including Zambonis and golf carts more environmentally friendly that Johnson outlined to the city's general issues committee on Jan. 30.

"They are big vehicles and they are on the road a lot," he said. "A lot of them are heavy contributors to greenhouse gas emissions."

Hamilton's ambulances alone travel 2.5 million kilometres a year and have to idle to keep medication at a certain temperature.

To reduce the impact on the environment, the Hamilton Paramedic Service is evaluating hybrid, regenerative-braking technology that captures kinetic energy during braking and stores it in the battery to power the motor. The move was approved by city council in 2019.

The city is also using technology to ensure ambulances idle only enough to keep medication at the right temperature.

"We don't have the choice to let them get super hot or super cold, but we do have the ability to use technology as our friend to help make sure when we are idling, it's for as little time as possible," said Johnson.

In addition, the city is also looking to make changes to Zambonis and golf carts.

"The iconic Canadian Zamboni is going electric," said Johnson. "We will be piloting and testing out electric Zambonis. Not only is it good for the environment in terms of emissions, it actually eliminates a safety concern that always exists when you are operating a combustion engine in an enclosed space."

On Jan. 29, the city put electric golf carts to tender.

"The gas-powered ones are some of the most inefficient engines we have out there," said Johnson.

Lastly, the city gave low-income families bus passes to get to its Red Hill Child and Family Centre instead of using taxis. Johnson estimates the move avoided 19,600 kilometres of driving annually and reduced yearly carbon dioxide equivalent by 8.6 tonnes (7,800 kg).

"These little things that we can do actually do have a big difference," said Johnson.

jfrketich@thespec.com

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905-526-3349 | @Jfrketich