Skip to main content

Clean diesel projects ‘best choice for use of VW settlement’

Clean diesel technology is the best choice for mitigating NOx emissions in the US as part of the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust, according to the non-profit education association Diesel Technology Forum. In a presentation at the 2017 Energy Policy Outlook Conference hosted by the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), Ezra Finkin, the policy director for the Forum, highlighted why clean diesel technology is the best and most cost-effective choice for the immediate mitigation
February 13, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Clean diesel technology is the best choice for mitigating NOx emissions in the US as part of the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust, according to the non-profit education association Diesel Technology Forum.
 
In a presentation at the 2017 Energy Policy Outlook Conference hosted by the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), Ezra Finkin, the policy director for the Forum, highlighted why clean diesel technology is the best and most cost-effective choice for the immediate mitigation of NOx emissions. He said replacing or upgrading the oldest and largest engines with clean diesel technology is the fastest and most proven way to reduce NOx emissions and achieve the objectives of the settlement.
 
The US$14.7 billion settlement reached between VW, the Attorney General and the Department of Justice includes the Environmental Mitigation Trust, designed to repower or replace older heavy-duty vehicles and equipment with new technology to reduce NOx emissions.  Public and private fleet vehicles are eligible for funding under the program.
 
According to Finkin, new clean diesel engines are near-zero in NOx emissions and are the most cost effective solution in reducing emissions to meet the specific goals established in the Trust.  “For a fixed investment, more NOx can be reduced through investments in clean diesel technology than any other alternative, including natural gas and all-electric applications,” he said.

He stated that, while not primary objectives of the settlement, policymakers should take into consideration these additional and immediate benefits from the clean diesel options.

Related Content

  • Outlook good for transportation technology funding
    January 25, 2012
    Chris Cheever and Chris Thomas of Fontinalis Partners discuss the funding outlook for the ITS industry – where the money’s going to come from, and what needs to happen to facilitate change
  • Rethink required to reduce road transport’s environmental impact
    March 15, 2016
    Against a background of a renewed focus on limiting the rise in average temperatures, Colin Sowman looks at a project that is taking a holistic approach to the environmental impact and safety of road transport. At the COP21 meeting in Paris last December, almost 200 nations agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to keep the rise in global temperatures to 2°C) compared with pre-industrial levels. The transportation sector is a major contributor to the production of CO2, one of the main green
  • Sprawl spreads the costs and confines the benefits
    June 8, 2015
    A new report says car-centric planning leads to inefficient cities and divided communities as lead author Todd Litman explains. Between 1950 and 2050 the human population will have approximately quadrupled and shifted from 80% rural to nearly 80% urban; by the middle of this century the United Nations predicts an additional 2.2 billion urban residents in developing countries than there are today. How these cities grow has huge economic, social and environmental impacts and implementing proper policies can c
  • Sprawl spreads the costs and confines the benefits
    June 8, 2015
    A new report says car-centric planning leads to inefficient cities and divided communities as lead author Todd Litman explains. Between 1950 and 2050 the human population will have approximately quadrupled and shifted from 80% rural to nearly 80% urban; by the middle of this century the United Nations predicts an additional 2.2 billion urban residents in developing countries than there are today. How these cities grow has huge economic, social and environmental impacts and implementing proper policies can c