Powering it together

Obviously Jeremy Wishart is going to largely advocate for propane as an alternative fuel option for landscape contractors.

He's the director of off-road business development for the Propane Education & Research Council. Wishart spends a lot of time educating people on why they should consider switching to propane. PERC offers an online mower calculator that allows contractors to just run the numbers on what they're paying for gasoline or diesel, and that number alone can't be ignored.

"The fear of change, whether it's minute or mega, is certainly a crippling thing for a lot of business owners," Wishart says. "They've got their systems in place, they understand what it is day in and day out, and I think when you add in what could potentially be a third fuel for them, it's a bit of a mental hurdle that they have to get over and understand."

But Wishart knows it's not just propane that's worth considering. He believes there's a place for other alternative fuel options. "I think there's opportunity for all alternative fuels, and I will say that for virtually any market," Wishart says. "It's a very big pond out there and the opportunities are huge for everyone."

Wishart says he particularly sees opportunity for interplay between propane and electric as crews outfit their entire fleets with alternative fuel options. For example, hesays electric is making encouraging strides in the mower market in particular, but he says smaller, handheld equipment powered by batteries are "far and away" where the industry is and should be going. Some of those batteries can be recharged by solar power or by a propane-powered generator, Wishart says.

He is still wary of commercial mowers using electric because of high cost and fears of the battery going dead in the field, which means you'd quite literally have to run a really long extension cord or tow away your mower.

Wishart also says natural gas is an option to consider, though he says this option can also be expensive and it can be difficult to navigate this choice because there's not as much support options from dealers. Converting a mower this way is also usually more expensive than trying to use propane, but using natural gas is another way to be environmentally friendly.

Overall, Wishart knows people must account for how they're going to get the fuel, training, maintenance, and decided whether they'll buy new equipment or purchase conversion equipment. But ultimately, he says breaking through to a new fuel option is no different than making other big choices for your company.

"There are hurdles, but I think that the hurdles are certainly not insurmountable," Wishart says. "I think they're blown out of proportion at times because of that fear of change. When you start to think about that change, you think about things being far worse than they are in reality."