Clean Diesel Fuel
New, cleaner diesel fuel - with sulfur reduced 97 percent compared
to the fuel it will eventually replace - is opening the door to a new
generation of diesel vehicles in the United States.
The new ultra-low sulfur fuel went on sale Sunday and has replaced 80
percent of the old diesel formulation at stations across the nation.
With its relatively low sulfur content - 15 parts per million (ppm) of
sulfur compared with 500 ppm found in the old fuel - the new fuel is a
significant milestone in making diesels as clean and popular as they
are in European markets.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen Johnson
said in a conference call with reporters this week that the fuel
rollout represented "the single greatest achievement in clean fuel
since lead was removed from gasoline more than 25 years ago."
"Diesel vehicles have always been 20 to 40 percent more energy
efficient than comparable gasoline engines," said Schaeffer. "With the
switch to cleaner fuel, consumers will see more fuel-efficient diesel
cars, pickups, and SUVs on showroom floors in the years to come."
Schaeffer added that new 2007 diesel trucks will emit just
one-sixtieth the soot exhaust of one produced in 1988.
The cleaner fuel is the result of a series of compromises among
environmentalists, diesel engine makers, oil refiners, and theU.S.
government, which first proposed the rules back in 2000 when Bill
Clinton was still President, according to supporters of the new rules,
who compared them to the rules that took lead out of gasoline.
Cleaner fuel is critical because sulfur tends to hamper
exhaust-control devices in diesel engines, in much the same way lead
once impeded the effectiveness of catalytic converters on gasoline
cars, according to Allen Schaeffer of the Diesel Technology Forum of
Washington D.C., which represents companies with an interest in diesel
technology.
Richard Kassel of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the
cleaner fuel represents a significant step toward cleaner air in large
urban areas. Urban smog, to which old-style diesel engines especially
contribute, accounts for a significant amount of illness and as many
as 8300 deaths annually, according to the EPA's own studies, Kassel
added.
Just putting the clean fuel into the estimated eight million diesel
engines now on the road will reduce emissions by as much as ten
percent, Kassel estimated.
"Diesel is the invisible force that moves the American economy, but
until now it has also been a big polluter," said Kassel, head of
NRDC's Clean Fuels and Vehicles Project. "Combining the new fuel with
cleaner and more energy-efficient engines will mean healthier air and
help reduce our dependence on oil."
The ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel regulation was proposed specifically
for heavy-duty engines used in tractor-trailers and other heavy-duty
industrial equipment. Starting in January, makers of the heavy-duty
diesel engines will roll out engine systems equipped with
exhaust-scrubbing technologies that work in tandem with the cleaner
fuel to reduce soot and smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions.
But, Kassel says, automakers looking for ways to boost fuel economy
will also benefit from clean diesel. The Diesel Technology Forum
estimates diesel engines can boost fuel economy by between 20 percent
and 40 percent over gas engines while offering nearly equivalent
emissions.
For right now, the new diesel fuel is available, but vehicles that
take full advantage of it aren't yet on the market. Recent diesels
from the likes of VW and Mercedes-Benz need significant re-engineering
to meet tougher diesel-emissions rules and to work with the new clean
diesel. Mercedes-Benz is aiming for 2008 to sell its new diesels in
all 50 states, and is trying to meet the new standards for diesel
emissions by treating exhaust emissions with a urea spray system
called Bluetec.
Until the tougher standards are met, sales of diesel engines are
effectively barred in states such as California and New York, making
it difficult for carmakers to justify selling diesel-powered vehicles
in the U.S. without those key markets.
But automakers are working to meet the new standards and are pitching
diesels as a less expensive, more proven alternative to hybrid
vehicles. Diesel engines cost about $2000 more than conventional
gasoline internal-combustion engines, per vehicle, but they are still
less expensive than hybrid systems that add more than $3000 to $4000
to the cost of a vehicle.
J.D. Power & Associates expects the U.S. market for diesels to grow
from 3.6 percent this year, or about 600,000 vehicles, to about nine
percent in 2013, or 1.66 million vehicles. By 2015, they project
diesels to have a 12-percent market share, or 2.2 million vehicles.
Ford, General Motors, and DaimlerChrysler are preparing new mid-range
diesel engines that they plan to roll out in 2008 and 2009 for
optional use in pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Honda has
said it plans to introduce a diesel vehicle within three years capable
of meeting California's emissions standards, but through different
catalyst technology.
Source: theconnection.com
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