WRI, EPA, and Mexican Partners Launch Project to Cut Emissions from Diesel Buses 6/21/2004
From: Racine Tucker-Hamilton of the World Resources Institute, 202-729-7684, 301-922-8417 (cell), or media@wri.org WASHINGTON, June 21 -- EMBARQ, the World Resources Institute's Center for Transport and the Environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Mexico City government, the Mexican Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), and the Center for Sustainable Transport in Mexico City today announced the launch of the Mexico City Diesel Retrofit Project. This is a pilot project to retrofit a limited number of Mexico City buses with advanced emissions control technology to reduce emissions of particulates and other pollutants from diesel engines. Mobile sources, especially older diesel-powered trucks and buses, are a major cause of air pollution in Mexico City. "Mexico City presents unique problems involving geography and resource constraints," said Dr. Nancy Kete, director of EMBARQ, WRI's Center for Transport and the Environment. "We are pleased to be supporting this critical demonstration of options that Mexico can take advantage of to make significant reductions in key air pollutants from old trucks and buses, taking into account those realities. That's the goal of this project." The project is designed to demonstrate how the combined use of cleaner fuels and diesel retrofit technologies can perform when applied to diesel engines operating under Mexico City's conditions. The project is similar to diesel retrofit projects now underway in U.S. cities, including Seattle, New York City, and Washington, D.C., where fleet owners and operators have committed to retrofit more than 150,000 diesel powered trucks, buses, and non-road equipment. Retrofit technologies can reduce diesel particulate emissions by 90 percent or more EPA and EMBARQ are awarding grants totaling $511,000 to the Center for Sustainable Transport, a Mexico City-based non- governmental organization to implement the project. This project represents a unique international collaboration between two countries, two non-governmental organizations and a capital city. The pilot is expected to last one year. The Mexico City Diesel Retrofit Project will draw on the expertise of a variety of partners and technical advisors, representing some of the best air pollution experts in the Western Hemisphere. These include Dr. Mario Molina of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the Environmental and Energy Technology Policy Institute (EETPI); Northeast States Center for a Clean Air Future (NESCCAF); the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC); International Truck and Engine; Volvo; Daimler-Chrysler; Engine, Fuel and Emissions Engineering Incorporated and Ambientalis, When completed, the project is expected to demonstrate that significant reductions in harmful emissions from older, heavy-duty diesel engines can be achieved cost effectively through a combination of tailpipe control technologies and a new generation of clean diesel fuel. The fuel used in this project is ultra-low sulfur diesel, which is increasingly used in many U.S. and European cities. Fine particulate matter and other emissions present in diesel exhaust are known to pose serious public health concerns. Fine particles cause health problems by passing through the nose and throat and becoming lodged in the lungs, resulting in lung damage and even premature death. They can also aggravate respiratory conditions, such as asthma and bronchitis. EPA believes that diesel exhaust is a likely human carcinogen. The Mexico City Diesel Retrofit Project will benefit greatly from EMBARQ and the Center for Sustainable Transport's other large projects with Mexico City -- developing a bus-rapid transit as part of a revitalized bus system, and testing emissions from new buses combining state-of-the-art emissions technology with ultra-low sulfur diesel and compressed natural gas. The Center for Sustainable Transport in Mexico City was launched in 2002 by EMBARQ under an agreement with the Mexico City government. EMBARQ, WRI's Center for Transportation and the Environment, is the leading organization promoting clean transportation in major cities. Founded at the World Resources Institute in 2002, EMBARQ is working in Shanghai in a similar partnership with city authorities. It also supports sustainable transport efforts in Xi'an, China and Hanoi, Viet Nam. ------ The World Resources Institute ( http://www.wri.org/wri ) is an environmental research and policy organization that creates solutions to protect the Earth and improve people's lives. |