County to test 'Green' patrol cars
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DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ore. -- The Douglas County Sheriff's Office is trying to go green.
Three of DCSO's vehicles were outfitted on Tuesday with a special device called a Smart Emissions Reducer.
The small device has been known to reduce emissions while adding 3-4 miles to the gallon on fuel efficiency.
Each emission reducer costs $500, but officials say it could end up saving the county thousands every year. Michael Blanck, the Fleet Services Director, told KPIC News, "I'd have to run the numbers on cost fleet wide, if we did it fleet wide, but it'll be in the tens of thousands of dollars," he said. "Three to four miles a gallon can be substantial."
The county is doing a 90-day trial period to test the technology.
Officials with Smart Air Fuel Saver of California, the company that installed the device, says that performances vary fleet to fleet and car to car, but Blanck says if it works well, they could end up outfitting the entire fleet with the devices.
Those cars log a lot of miles. Â Any little bit helps.
Awesome coverage Ms. Wolcott! Thank you for the excellent job. It's great to see Douglas County getting ahead of the curve with sustainability.