Caterpillar recently committed to the Environmental Protection Agency that it will be ready to provide customers with on-highway truck engines that will meet the EPA’s stringent 2007 emissions standards. As part of an industrywide clean-diesel event held near EPA headquarters in Washington, Caterpillar again demonstrated the company’s absolute readiness when it comes to meeting the 2007 standards.
“Two years ago this week, I was honored to be in Washington where we demonstrated for the EPA a prototype engine that met the 2007 standard,” said Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar group president with responsibility for the company’s engine business. “The C13 engine we demonstrated today is like the production engines our customers will use starting in 2007 as they help deliver the products, goods and supplies that are a vital part of everyday life in America.”
In May 2005, Caterpillar also demonstrated a 2007-compliant truck engine for President Bush at an event in Virginia. The president examined a white handkerchief that had been held over the exhaust stack of a truck as the engine was revved. Following the demonstration, the handkerchief was still white.
As part of a comprehensive testing program to make sure customers are familiar with the technology used to meet emissions regulations, Caterpillar says its customers already have logged more than two million miles on 2007 compliant engines. Caterpillar says it is building on its Acert technology to meet the 2007 regulations, adding clean gas induction and a diesel particulate filter to make sure the engines provided to customers will meet the 2007 EPA standards.
“In 1988, the average EPA-compliant heavy-duty on-highway truck traveling 120,000 miles in a year emitted about 470 pounds of particulate matter,” Oberhelman said. “The engine we demonstrated today, and the engines our customers will use in 2007, will emit less than eight pounds of particulate matter a year, a reduction of approximately 98 percent.”
The Caterpillar truck engine demonstrated for the EPA uses ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, a key component for all on-highway truck engine manufacturers to meet the 2007 emissions standards. Caterpillar has invested more than $1 billion in clean-diesel technology in recent years.
