At least 100 trucks based in Mississippi will get battery-powered auxiliary air conditioning units thanks to a $1 million federal grant to Mississippi State University.


The university's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, working with two private companies operating large fleets of vehicles in Mississippi, will install battery-operated A/C units on 6.5 percent of the fleet for KLLM Transport Services and 8.3 percent of the Dufour Petroleum Inc. fleet.

Additional retrofits will be offered to independent truck owners located in Mississippi.

Dr. Michael Mazzola with MSU's Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems explained the system's impact to local reporters: "When he or she (the driver) is resting or at a depot waiting to load or unload, it allows the driver to avoid idling the main engine while they're in those rest periods and that significantly reduces fuel consumption and reduces potentially dangerous emissions."

EPA says this clean diesel project is expected to save 144,502 gallons of diesel fuel, which will reduce carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) emissions by 1,608 tons annually. In addition, the use of the BACs will result in annual reductions of 28.67 tons of nitrogen oxides and 0.78 tons of particulate matter.