What Happened?
Pittsburgh has plans to retrofit 20 city trucks with new fueling systems to make them more efficient.
Goal
Twenty trucks in the Pittsburgh Public Works Department will be receiving new fueling systems thanks to a $150,000 agreement the city entered into with a fleet technology provider. By paying the company $150,000, Pittsburgh’s 20 trucks will be equipped with the technology to run on biodiesel as well as traditional fuel, and the city will construct a new refueling station. The new system will not only reduce emissions but make the trucks more fuel-efficient, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
Once Pittsburgh has tested the system on all 20 public works trucks, the city plans to add the new fueling system to other municipal vehicles for increased efficiency and cost savings. The fueling system allows the municipal vehicles to run on biodiesel for most of the year, until cold weather forces trucks to run on conventional diesel fuel. By enabling the vehicles to perform as hybrid cars and trucks, Pittsburgh anticipates cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
Grant Funding
Part of the cost of the fleet upgrades will be covered by an alternative fuels grant from the state. The Pennsylvania Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program is administered through the state Department of Environmental Protection and offers nonprofits, organizations and local governments with funding to transition vehicles from traditional fuel systems to:
- Propane
- Compressed natural gas
- Electric
- Biodiesel
In 2014, the Pennsylvania DEP awarded about $4 million in Alternative Fuel Incentive Grants and an additional $1.8 million in support of four innovative alternative fuel technology projects.
Nationwide Bus Conversions
Recent reports from the Diesel Technology Forum revealed major cities across the country are upgrading their municipal bus fleets to include clean diesel and diesel-electric vehicles. Cities such as Chicago, Detroit, New York and San Francisco all increased the number of clean diesel and hybrid buses in 2014 due to the technologies’ reliability and high-rating performance.
When compared to bus emissions from 1988, the current clean diesel bus technology is able to reduce NOx and particulate matter emissions by 98 percent. Clean diesel engines are leveraging emissions-controls systems and ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel to cut emissions to levels reported by compressed natural gas and other alternatives.
When used to upgrade older diesel engines, new technologies can reduce key pollutants from existing buses by up to 90 percent. When cities such as Pittbsurgh incorporate renewable diesel fuels into their diesel bus fleets, efficiency levels rise even further.
By bringing transportation emissions to near-zero levels, clean diesel technology is becoming a key component to many city energy plans focused on sustainable strategies for long-term savings and efficiency. Furthermore, the Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study found new clean diesel technologies are able to cut emissions while improving air quality. The new technologies do not cause any reported increased risk of lung cancer or other adverse health effects on populations or animals.
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