2010 Engine Standards Workshop

Engine Workshop

On August 26, 2009, public and private diesel fleets throughout the Denver Metro Area came together to learn about and discuss EPA’s upcoming 2010 Diesel Emissions Standards. The workshop, put on by the Regional Air Quality Council and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, invited representatives from Cummins, Mack, and Navistar to discuss the heavy-duty diesel standards and explore SCR and EGR solutions. See vendor presentations below.

RAQC Receives EPA Award

News Release

EPA awards $2.8 million in Recovery Act funding in Colorado to reduce diesel emissions and create jobs

 Release date: 07/24/2009

Contact Information: Rebecca Russo, USEPA, 303-312-6757; Richard Mylott, USEPA, 303-312-6654 

(Denver, Colo. – July 24, 2009) In a move that stands to create jobs, boost local economies, reduce diesel emissions and protect human health and the environment for people of Colorado, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $2.8 million in grants to the Denver Regional Air Quality Council, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the City and County of Denver to install clean diesel technologies on hundreds of trucks, buses and vehicles throughout the state. These clean diesel projects will create jobs while protecting Colorado’s air quality.

“These Recovery Act projects significantly advance efforts to secure clean-diesel technologies for our nation’s school buses, construction and farm equipment, long-haul trucks and other diesel vehicles,” said EPA Acting Regional Administrator, Carol Rushin. “In Colorado, our partners will use these funds to reduce toxic pollution from hundreds of vehicles and will help create and maintain jobs in communities across the state.”

The funds are provided under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009 National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program. Under this funding competition, EPA Region 8 alone received more than 35 grant applications requesting more than $56 million to help fund clean diesel emissions projects.

The awards announced today were chosen to both maximize economic impact and emissions reductions. In addition to helping create and retain jobs, these clean diesel projects will help to reduce premature deaths, asthma attacks and other respiratory ailments, lost work days and many other health impacts every year.

Grant award recipients in Colorado include:

Denver Regional Air Quality Council: $1,250,000
This project will partner with owners and operators of over-the-road truck fleets, the oil and gas industry and one school district to install 100 auxiliary power units, 20 diesel oxidation catalysts, 56 fuel-operated heaters for anti-idling and in-cab heaters, 44 thermal coolers, 10 full sets of SmartWay low-rolling resistance tires and 20 SmartWay trailer gap fairings on vehicles throughout the state. The primary goal of these efforts is to reduce exposure to toxic emissions from diesel exhaust and to conserve diesel fuel. Contact: Sarah Anderson, Steve McCannon 303-629-5450

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, $850,000
This project will provide emissions control solutions for over-the-road diesel trucks. The funding will be used to partially pay for 180 auxiliary power units or battery air conditioning systems for long-haul trucks, with individual truck owners providing the remaining cost shares. This project will provide air quality benefits throughout Colorado and will provide significant fuel savings. Contact: Lisa Silva, 303-692-3119

City and County of Denver: $700,000
This project will retrofit 48 refuse vehicles with fuel-operated hydraulic and cab heaters, retrofit 9 snow plows with fuel operated cab heaters, retrofit 53 heavy duty diesel vehicles with diesel oxidation catalysts and closed crankcase filtration devices and utilize biodiesel fuel. This funding will pay for the full cost of retrofits and the incremental cost of biodiesel fuel. The primary goal of the project is to reduce exposure to toxic emissions from diesel exhaust. Contact: Sabrina Williams, 720-865-5477

Colorado will also benefit from a grant of $850,000 awarded to Oregon-based Cascade Sierra Solutions. Cascade Sierra Solutions will use the funds to provide emissions control solutions for the over-the road diesel trucks based in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota and Utah.

The Recovery Act allotted the National Clean Diesel Campaign (NCDC) a total of $300 million, of which the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance program received $156 million to fund competitive grants across the nation. The Recovery Act also included $20 million for the National Clean Diesel Emerging Technology program grants and $30 million for the SmartWay Clean Diesel Finance program grants.

In addition, under the Act’s State Clean Diesel Grant program, a total of $88.2 million has been provided to States for clean diesel projects through a noncompetitive allocation process.

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17, 2009 and has directed that the Recovery Act be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability. To that end, the American people can see how every dollar is being invested at Recovery.gov.

For information on EPA’s implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, visit: http://www.epa.gov/recovery

For information about EPA’s clean diesel initiatives, visit: http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel

About Clean Air Fleets

The Clean Air Fleets program, started in 2003, is a public-private initiative of the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) to help on- and off-road diesel operators voluntarily reduce diesel emissions while saving money. To accomplish this goal, Clean Air Fleets:

●   Identifies opportunities and leverages funds from a variety of sources to create effective projects that address the specific needs of 
     Denver Metro Area Fleets.
●   Enables local government and public works, school districts, private, off-road, and over-the-road fleets to install cost-efficient emissions 
     control and idle reduction technologies. 
●   Provides education and outreach assistance to fleet owners and operators about voluntary efforts they can undertake to achieve 
     emissions reductions on their own.

Accomplishments

Diesel Conferences and Workshops (2002, 2006, 2009)Working with numerous public and private partners, the RAQC hosted two conferences in 2002 and 2006 and a workshop in 2009 focusing on current diesel-related issues. 

EPA Auxiliary Power Unit Project (2007 – 2008) – The RAQC worked with 9 owners and operators to install 10 Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) on over-the-road semi-tractor trailers to reduce unnecessary idling.

Colorado Retrofit Project (2007-2008) – CORP expanded the RAQC’s retrofit and education efforts to a majority of the school districts and public works fleets in the Denver Metro Area as well as working with a small number of private fleets.

Clean Yellow Fleets for Blue Skies (2003 – 2008) – The first phase of CYFBS was a regional education and retrofit partnership involving 15 local school districts. The CYFBS program successfully installed approximately 1,100 pieces of diesel retrofit equipment on over 800 buses throughout the metro-Denver region and encouraged the use of over 1,000,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel by participating districts. The program additionally implemented “best maintenance practice” trainings and educational outreach to reduce idling.

Diesel Initiative for Retrofit Technology (2003 – 2007) – D.I.R.T. was a small-scale program focused on reducing diesel emissions through the installation of diesel retrofit equipment in off-road fleets working in ‘sensitive’ areas throughout the metro-region. The D.I.R.T. project successfully installed 42 pieces of retrofit equipment on four off-road HDDVs at the City of Commerce City and 17 off-road vehicles at Brannan Sand and Gravel. These retrofits tapped into the off-road construction sector and helped reduce diesel emissions throughout the Northeast Denver area.

Clean Air Fleets Program (2002 – 2005) The original Clean Air Fleets was implemented as a pilot program to educate area fleets about diesel retrofit technologies and successfully installed 69 pieces of diesel retrofit equipment and funded 19 biodiesel grants. The pilot program paved the way to other diesel retrofit efforts by showing project partners the technology was simple and easy to maintain.

 

 

 

 

 

Technologies

Idle Reduction Technologies

Engine and Hydraulic Preheaters

Engine and hydraulic preheaters warm engine fluids to operating temperature to eliminate idling. The units can be installed in tandem with the hydraulic heater to heat hydraulic fluids at the same time. In addition there are options available for in-cab heating. The units provide up to 80% fuel savings compared to idling the engine and significantly reduce engine wear and tear and the need for costly engine rebuilds. These units cost $1,300 – $5,000 depending on a number of factors. Depending on funding availability, the RAQC will install this technology on local government and public works, school district, private, off-road and over-the-road fleet vehicles.

Auxiliary Power Unit (APU)

APU’s provide air conditioning, heating and electrical power for over-the-road trucks to reduce the need for idling. The units provide up to 80% fuel savings compared to idling the engine and significantly reduce engine wear and tear and the need for costly engine rebuilds. APUs cost up to $10,000. Depending on funding availability, the RAQC will install this technology on over-the-road fleet vehicles.

Global Positioning System (GPS)

Installation of GPS tracking units allow fleet management to reduce idling time, fuel usage and streamline routing which can reduce congestion and wasted vehicle operating hours.

Emissions Control Technologies

Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC)

The DOC is a simple muffler replacement that reduces particulates by 20% – 40% and costs $1,000+ depending on vehicle horsepower. Depending on funding availability, the RAQC will install this technology on local government and public works, school district, private and off-road fleet vehicles.

Closed Crankcase Filtration Unit (CCF)

CCFs units close the crankcase through a closed loop system that re-circulates and filter crankcase emissions reducing in-cab emissions and costs $400+ depending on vehicle horsepower. Depending on funding availability, the RAQC will install this technology on local government and public works, school district, private and off-road fleet vehicles.

Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF)

The DPFs are muffler replacements that provide 90% emissions reductions. The units require periodic maintenance and the use of ULSD fuel. DMFs cost $9,000+ depending on vehicle horsepower. The technology can be installed on local government and public works, school district, and private fleet vehicles.

New Vehicles

Diesel/Hydraulic Vehicles (HLA)

The EPA has developed an innovative new hydraulic hybrid system to provide cost-effective, ultra-clean and efficient vehicles.  This new hybrid system provides “launch assist” by capturing most energy lost during braking and uses it to propel the vehicle after its next stop.

Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) and Electric Vehicles (EV)

Electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are fueled by electricity that comes directly from the power grid. While running on electricity, these vehicles produce zero tailpipe emissions. Depending on funding availability, funding is focused on those entities not eligible for the state income tax credit.

Infrastructure

Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE)

Electric vehicle charging stations provide electricity to plug-in hybrid electric and all electric vehicles. Depending on availability, the RAQC will assist public and private entities with funding for Level 2 and Level 3 charging stations.