With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency preparing to establish a national program on greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards for commercial trucks, EPA, environmental and industry representatives will hold a press conference Tuesday, Oct. 19, to outline the significant technological and environmental advances in the new generation of 2010 diesel trucks and buses.
A sampling of 2010 heavy-duty trucks and buses that feature the most modern clean emissions technology in existence will be on display. The press conference also will include a “clean hanky” test where a new white handkerchief is placed over a running truck’s tailpipe to illustrate the low emissions of 2010 truck technology.
“These are the cleanest and most modern commercial vehicles in the world,” says Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum. “The new 2010 generation of clean diesel power is winning support among America’s commercial truck and bus fleets on a platform of near-zero emissions and higher fuel economy. The historic progress in clean diesel technology is remarkable. Consider that it would take 60 of these 2010 trucks to equal the same emissions from one pre-1988 truck. A 60-to-1 ratio is amazing.
In addition to Schaeffer, other scheduled participants at Tuesday’s press event include Margo Oge, director, the Office of Transportation And Air Quality, Office of Air and Radiation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Richard Kassel, Natural Resources Defense Council; Srikanth Padmanabhan, Cummins; Patrick Charbonneau, Navistar; and Brad Williamson, Daimler Trucks North America. After the press conference, the US EPA Clean Diesel 10 conference will begin its two days of meetings and exhibitions at the convention center to highlight 10 years of cleaner air and clean diesel through improvements in aftertreatment technology and fuel types.
“While continuously making commercial trucks more fuel-efficient, diesel engine and truck manufacturers have also been making them dramatically cleaner,” Schaeffer says. “Today’s new 2010 heavy-duty diesel truck deploys the most state-of-the-art engine and emissions control systems and has near zero emissions – a considerable accomplishment considering that increased fuel efficiency and lower emissions are near opposite and competing forces in diesel engine design.”
