Food trucks at a Sacramento event ditch gas generators for quiet battery banks

There are about 4,000 food trucks across the Sacramento region and nearly all of them use gas generators. But on Friday night, some truck owners are flipping the switch on a new idea.

At first glance, Friday's event in Sacramento's Tahoe Park looked like any other food fest. But in the background, there are some banks of batteries that are cooking up these tasty treats.

Steve Dornback's food truck is normally powered by a gas generator that is noisy and emits exhaust fumes. But on this night, the Smokin' Ewe and several other trucks are being powered entirely by clean electric batteries.

"It's super quiet, we can hear everybody, we can hear the birds chirping," Dornback said. "We're going to hear the music tonight, so I think it's great."

He was a little skeptical at first if it would work.

"When he plugged in, everything clicked on no problem. I was like, we're good to go," he said.

It's part of a demonstration project at this week's Tahoe Park Neighborhood Association food truck festival and it's a meetup with a message.

"It's important that we do everything we can," said Eric Guerra, Sacramento's mayor pro tem. "Every little bit counts to keep our air clean."

Guerra represents the neighborhood and is a member of the California Air Resources Board. He says the goal is to demonstrate how zero-emission technology can be used as an alternative to gas-powered generators.

"All of that gas and the fumes and the noise, it just takes away from the ambiance," Guerra said.

Even the live stage is being powered 100% by batteries. Band members say there's no difference in the quality of their sound.

"There's not that big, huge sound that those gas generators have and it's all nice and quiet," said Lilian Ghafari, a musician.

The batteries can be charged using solar power to create a zero-emission energy source.

Dornback said the electrical batteries make it a more enjoyable environment, and his brisket and mac and cheese will turn out just the same no matter where the power comes from.

"The food will not taste any different, as long as it turns that carousel over the wood fire, we're good to go," he said.

This is not the first time clean energy has been used at the Tahoe Park neighborhood event. Last year, they used a hydrogen fuel cell to power the food trucks.