The Diesel Technology Forum has launched a new web site focusing on clean diesel solutions to reduce emissions from existing diesel engines.
"Our goal is to provide basic program information and real-life examples of success stories in modernizing and upgrading existing diesel equipment,” said Forum Executive Director Allen Schaeffer.
For nearly 18 months, the Diesel Technology Forum has been working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and state and regional governments providing technical, policy and program support for these programs. EPA has established a campaign goal of retrofitting 100,000 existing diesel engines by January 1, 2002. This comes on the heels of last years' first successful program that surpassed the goal of retrofitting 10,000 engines.
"Through the experiences of the last 18 months, it has become increasingly clear that lowering the emissions of existing diesel engines through these measures is technically feasible and provides real clean air benefits," said Schaeffer. "There's no question that there are still unresolved issues and we are in a learning mode, so the power of information is vitally important, and this site helps fill an information gap."
The website covers:
Retrofitting - applying emissions filters and catalysts to existing vehicles and equipment;
Refueling - using cleaner diesel fuels or emissions-reducing fuel additives;
Rebuilding - taking existing engines and upgrading them with hardware and/or software changes;
Repowering - replacing older engines with new lower-emitting engines;
Retirement - replacing old equipment with new equipment that has lower-emitting engines.
