Photo credit: Markus Distelrath licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Mountain Brook is one of the newest converts to the fast increasing electric lawn care industry in the United States. The city has spent around $18,000 in the last year switching its equipment off of gas. “If we could convince people to do this across the country, it might make a significant difference,” says Mayor Stewart Welch. The number of electric-powered lawn mowers shipped in North America increased from over 9 million in 2015 to over 16 million in 2020. In just five years, electric lawn equipment grew from 32% to 44% of the whole market.
Electric lawnmowers have reduced the need for routine maintenance on two-stroke gas engines. This might result in a reduction of up to 26 tons of climate-warming CO2 emissions each year. Solar panels are installed on the roofs of solar-powered landscaping vehicles, allowing lawnmowers to be recharged on the move. In 2016, South Pasadena was designated as California’s first AGZA “Green Zone” community. Gas-powered lawn mowers are also being phased out at Yale University and North Carolina State University.
Electric lawnmowers have far higher upfront expenses than gas-powered lawnmowers. Electric lawn mowers are not eligible for federal incentives. A law in California would mandate that gas engines be phased out by 2024. It’s the kind of action that the industry has battled for a long time. The AGZA certifications from Mountain Brook are the first step in phasing out gas-powered equipment.
To read the article published by the Washington Post on June 30, 2021, click here.
