When it comes to conserving energy and improving public health, newer clean diesel technology is helping to make a difference.

Clean diesel is a combination of cleaner fuel, new engines and emissions control technologies.  Likened by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to being as important a public health measure as taking lead out of gasoline, clean diesel will play a leading role in helping cities and states meet new national ambient air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter. Ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, which is 97 percent cleaner than current diesel fuel, arrived in California Sept. 1 and will be available nationwide Oct.15.  New 2007 diesel-powered trucks and buses are the first class of equipment deploying the full clean diesel system. While today’s trucks and buses already produce only one-eighth the tailpipe exhaust compared to those built in 1990, new engines will be even cleaner. A 2007 clean diesel truck will have about 1/60th the level of emissions of one 1988 model truck.

The EPA predicts the change will reduce emissions of smog-forming gases by 2.6 million tons each year and cut soot emissions by 110,000 tons annually trucks once they fully replace the existing fleet.

While clean diesel will first arrive on new trucks and buses in 2007, many other diesel vehicles and equipment will soon benefit as well.

By 2009, both gasoline and diesel cars, pickups and SUVs – regardless of fuel type and engine size – must meet the same stringent emissions standards. In the coming years, consumers can expect to see more diesel options in showrooms and will ultimately benefit from diesel’s greater fuel efficiency (typically 20 to 40 percent more miles per gallon than a comparable gasoline version).

Emissions reductions, on the same magnitude as those occurring for trucks and buses in 2007, will begin for off-road construction and agricultural equipment later this decade.

Many of the same clean diesel technologies developed for new engines can be applied to some older vehicles and equipment. The nationwide availability of clean diesel fuel will help expand opportunities for these clean diesel retrofits.  Simply using the new cleaner fuel in existing diesel engines reduces particulate emissions by about 10 percent (sulfur emitted as sulfate, an aerosol counted as particulate matter).

New clean diesel technology will benefit our environment and improve air quality, which is a critical part of public health and welfare. That’s why groups such as Clean Air Watch, Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council are joining with the diesel community to support the clean diesel revolution.

Find out more information, and references, at http://www.dieselforum.org.

Submitted by:

Allen Schaeffer, MHS
Executive Director
Diesel Technology Forum
aschaeffer@dieselforum.org