> The City of Palo Alto, CA outlawed the use of gas-powered leaf-blowers
> within the city limits for two seemingly reasonable reasons: they are
> noisy, and the gas engines used in them are very dirty.[*]
>
> The other day a friend of mine reported seeing a City crew out working
> with an electric blower on the median of a major street in Palo Alto.
> So far, so good, right? But: how did he get the electricity? Well of
> course he was tethered to a 50' extension cord leading to ... wait for
> it ... a gas-powered 5KW generator. Which is of course noisier than the
> portable leaf-blowers and more polluting, because it's the same
> technology yet bigger engine that runs constantly instead of just when
> the operator is blowing hard.
>
> Not to get into the whole "people shouldn't use leaf blowers" bit, I
> find these kinds of things hilarious.
This might not be as ludicrous as it seems.
The dirtiest engines are the 2-stroke engines found on most (but not all) portable power equipment. As far as i can tell, the gas engines found on medium-size generators are 4-stroke engines. The gas engines found on many small leaf blowers and similar garden equipment are 2-stroke engines that burn gas and oil together.
--tim francis-wright