(CONEXPO-CON/AGG: Milwaukee) -- Sustainability in the construction industry is being advanced by the public and private sectors. Governments are adopting more clean-air regulations at local and regional levels, and companies are adopting sustainability policies and asking partners to help them meet their targets.

Consequently, many manufacturers have already developed—or are in the process of developing—electric-powered construction equipment to meet increasing emissions regulations, provide efficiency improvements and lower operating costs. All electric, electric/hydraulic, and battery-operated versions rival their diesel and gas counterparts in performance, notes Joel Honeyman, vice president of Global Innovation at Bobcat.

The changing industry

“People say electric machines are not going to perform as well as a diesel machine,” Honeyman observes. “That is simply not true. In many cases they can outperform them.”

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