FYI - CleanAIR on BusinessWeek

Recently BusinessWeek ranked the Best Global Brands of 2008 from 1 to 100. Caterpillar ranked #68. Here's the description that BusinessWeek included under their Caterpillar listing:

"The construction and mining equipment maker is now joining forces with CleanAIR Systems to reduce emissions in its existing products - giving it a greener halo."

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BusinessWeek

Dirty Trucks Must Clean Up Their Act in B.C.

British Columbia will become the first province in Canada to make diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) mandatory on older heavy-duty trucks. This means that nearly 8,000 trucks built between 1989 and 1993 must be retrofitted with special diesel filters by 2009. Newer EPA-mandated trucks built in 2002 as well as this year, virtually eliminate smog-inducing emissions like particulate matter and NOx.

The diesel trucks, says Canada's Environment Minister Barry Penner, are among the worst culprits on the road for emitting a disproportionate amount of particulate matter (PM), which is said to cause respiratory diseases.

“It will have an immediate and tangible benefit,” said Penner. “This will take up to 60 tons per year of particulate matter out of the air we breathe.”

The Canadian government estimates that one older diesel truck emits as much PM as 60 new trucks.

Catalysts to retrofit the vehicles will cost between $1,200 and $2,500 per truck, and are expected to reduce total emissions of PM by up to 3.4 percent and total emissions by nearly half, especially if the rigs use ultra low-sulfur diesel or bio-diesel blends.

Buses and construction equipment are exempt from the requirement for now. DOC retrofits are also planned for government vehicles such as ambulances and school buses.

The order won’t affect RVs, pickup trucks, construction equipment and unlicensed off-road vehicles.

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Today’s Trucking Online

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More on diesel oxidation catalysts to reduce emissions on diesel heavy-duty trucks.

diesel retrofit
diesel retrofit

Court Shoots Down EPA: Weak Agency Smog Rule Violates Clean Air Act

A panel of federal judges denied appeals by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and industry to overturn the same court's December, 2006 ruling that struck down the agency's rule attempting to weaken protections against harmful smog-forming pollution.

Ozone is associated with asthma attacks, coughing, wheezing, and other respiratory illness. Higher smog levels in a region are frequently accompanied by increased hospitalization and emergency room visits for respiratory disorders. Hundreds of counties across the country currently have unhealthful levels of smog, which limits outdoor activities, increases hospitalizations, and puts millions of Americans at risk for respiratory problems.

Today's decision reaffirms that EPA violated the Clean Air Act by relaxing limits on ozone, or smog pollution, from large power plants, factories and other industrial sources.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied the EPA and industry petitions for rehearing, and actually clarified in even stronger terms that weakening air protections is illegal under federal law. The court characterized the industry's desired readings of the law as a "glaring loophole" that nothing suggests Congress intended.

Significantly, recognizing the harm from EPA's delay, laxity and lawlessness, the court also "urged" EPA to "act promptly in promulgating a revised rule that effectuates the statutory mandate by implementing the eight-hour [ozone] standard, which was deemed necessary to protect the public health a decade ago."

"Today's decision reaffirms that EPA must follow the Clean Air Act and limit this harmful pollution," said Earthjustice attorney David Baron. "Health experts agree that we need stronger protections, not weaker limits on smog pollution."

EPA and industry groups had tried to overturn the decision by seeking rehearing in March. The environmental and public health groups, along with the states, argued that EPA's original rule and requested appeal made no sense, because the agency's unlawfully weak ozone rule came after EPA had found that the previous ozone standard was too weak to protect public health.

"Hundreds of counties across the country currently have dangerous levels of ozone smog. We've already seen high levels this spring," said Janice Nolen, Assistant Vice President of the American Lung Association. "Ozone triggers asthma attacks, sends children to hospitals and emergency rooms, and even increases the risk of early death. Today's court decision puts us closer to having air that does not make people sick."

"EPA should heed the court's pointed warning to act promptly to adopt protective rules that will deliver long overdue clean air to the American people," said NRDC attorney John Walke. "EPA foot-dragging and law-breaking have a daily toll on people forced to breathe smog levels that doctors and scientists tell us is widely unhealthy."

The 1990 Clean Air Act required stronger anti-smog measures in cities violating ozone standards, including limits on pollution from new and expanded factories, requirements for annual cuts in smog-forming emissions, and caps on truck and car exhaust. In 1997, EPA found that the then-existing "1-hour" ozone health standard wasn't strong enough to protect health, and adopted a new "8-hour" standard to provide greater protection. Paradoxically, the agency in 2004 adopted rules that weakened pollution control requirements for areas violating both the old and the new standard. That decision triggered the court challenge leading to that rule being struck down in December, 2006, and the EPA-industry appeals being rebuffed today.

"EPA has a responsibility to protect our health and our environment from unhealthy, polluted air," said Marti Sinclair, chairperson for Sierra Club's Air Quality Committee. "Millions of Americans breathe air with unsafe ozone levels, and they deserve stronger, not weaker protection under the law."

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Earthjustice

Find out:
How to reduce NOx, a major contributor to smog, from power plants and lean burn engines using selective catalytic reduction.

Clean Air Act
current issues

States on Track to Cut Emissions

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) says that 21 states, along with the District of Columbia are on track to reduce their global warming emissions by 108 million metric tons (MMT) of carbon dioxide by 2020, through the use of adopting renewable electricity standards. The emission cuts are equal to taking 17.7 million cars off the road.

Three states in particular (Colorado, Minnesota and New Mexico) are over the 100 MMT milestone.

UCS estimates that by 2020, state standards will produce more than 46,000 megawatts of clean, renewable power. This will be enough to meet the needs of 28.5 million households.

With the success of state renewable energy standards, the UCS says momentum is building for a federal standard of 20 percent renewable energy by 2020.

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Union of Concerned Scientists

First EPA Report on Environmental Impacts of Energy Use in Leading Manufacturing Sectors

Washington, DC – April 10, 2007 -- The Environmental Protection Agency has released a report on energy use trends in major manufacturing sectors that highlights the environmental implications of energy use. The report concludes with a general overview of the barriers to energy efficiency and use of clean fuel technologies, and offers some possible policy options for government to help address these barriers.

These sectors account for about 85 percent of all U.S. industrial energy use. The report analyzes each sector’s current energy consumption trends and the associated environmental impacts, specifically emissions of air pollutants and carbon dioxide. Under a business-as-usual scenario, energy consumption across many of these sectors will increase by 20 percent from 2004 levels by 2020, and carbon dioxide emissions will increase by 14 percent. The 12 sectors analyzed are aluminum, cement, chemical manufacturing, food manufacturing, forest products, iron and steel, metal casting, metal finishing, motor vehicle manufacturing, motor vehicle parts manufacturing, petroleum refining, and shipbuilding.

The report shows how each sector could improve environmental performance by becoming more energy efficient or by using clean fuel technologies. It also identifies five strategies that could be used to achieve these goals:

- switching to cleaner fuels
- using combined heat and power
- retrofitting or replacing older equipment
- making process improvements
- investing in research and development.

Based on the insights from this report, EPA will now work with the industry partners to explore the best ways to improve energy and environmental outcomes in each sector.

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About retrofitting diesel and natural gas engines to reduce emissions

Find out:
About retrofitting diesel and natural gas engines to reduce emissions

EPA Seeks Data Review to Assess Remaining Air Toxics Risks from 22 Industry Sectors

Washington, D.C. - March 26, 2007 -- EPA is soliciting public comment on data the agency intends to use in analyzing risks from air toxics emitted from 22 industrial sectors. EPA will use the data to conduct risk analyses to determine if additional standards are needed to address remaining risks from the 22 sectors. In addition, EPA will perform a technology review for each sector.

The agency seeks comment on toxic air pollutant emissions estimates and other information. The data will help EPA scientists estimate airborne pollutant concentrations. Following review of comments received, EPA plans to update the data, as appropriate, and estimate remaining risks.

These analyses are required by the Clean Air Act as part of the process to assess the risks remaining after these industrial sectors have complied with earlier technology based emission standards.

Today’s action announces EPA’s approach and requests public comments. EPA will accept comments for 60 days following publication of the notice in the Federal Register.

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EPA

Edwards Increases Efforts To Fight Global Warming; Announces Campaign Will Be Carbon Neutral

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – March 13, 2007 -- As part of his efforts to combat global warming, Senator John Edwards announced today that he will make his campaign "carbon neutral."

Edwards believes global warming is one of the great challenges facing America and the world and that we can all take immediate action to decrease the amount of carbon we produce. By conserving energy and purchasing carbon offsets, the Edwards campaign will offset the carbon emitted by Edwards and his staff's campaign travel, and the energy used in his campaign headquarters and field offices.

"Global warming is an emergency and we can't wait until the next president is elected to take action," said Edwards. "Each of us can take responsibility in small ways to make a big difference. I encourage all Americans to conserve energy in their own homes and workplaces and help fight global warming."

In February, Governor Tom Vilsack announced he would be the first presidential candidate to plan a carbon neutral campaign. Edwards shares his commitment to protecting our environment and reducing our carbon footprint. The campaign and its landlord have taken the following steps to conserve energy:

- Organizing a One Corps National Day of Energy Action in January to get supporters involved in the fight against global warming by working on community service activities including weatherizing homes and distributing energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.
- Using timers and motion detectors to control lights and shut down office equipment when not in use and turning off computers, televisions, and lights when not in use.
- Online monitoring and management of heating and air conditioning to conserve energy.
- Buying 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper and other recycled paper products.
- Recycling paper, plastic, glass, cardboard, and other products.
- Encouraging staff to adopt energy efficient practices in their office and homes. About a quarter of John Edwards for President headquarters employees walk to work.

After conserving energy, the campaign will purchase carbon offsets to make it carbon neutral. Carbon offsets allow one party to pay another to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. Edwards will also financially support renewable energy projects to make them commercially viable and reduce the need for carbon-based energy.

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John Edwards for President

Port of Los Angeles Will Contribute $850,000 Toward New "Hybrid" Tug

A new hybrid tug boat proposed by Seattle-based Foss Maritime Company, and funded in part by the Port of Los Angeles will be substantially less polluting, more fuel efficient and even quieter than today's modern tug boats.

Through a Technology Advancement Program (TAP) utilized as part of the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan, the Port of Los Angeles will co-fund the "green" tug initiative, contributing $850,000. Technology Advancement Program funding from the Port of Los Angeles was made possible through a Memorandum of Understanding forged five years ago between the Port and the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). The Port matched a $1,000,000 California Air Resources Board (CARB) grant to create a $2,000,000 program to help develop less polluting technology for harbor craft operating within the L.A./Long Beach port complex through prototype projects like the Foss hybrid tug.

With an anticipated delivery in 2008, the hybrid tug will reduce all emissions (nitrogen oxide, particulate emissions, sulphur dioxide and carbon emissions) and exceed the EPA's Tier 2 emissions requirement for marine engines. Initial estimates are that particulate matter and nitrogen oxides are reduced by 44% for the same duty cycle as the current Dolphin tugs operating in San Pedro harbor.

Hybrid tug technology is ideally suited for harbor tugs that need high amounts of power for short periods of time. The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex is an ideal environment for a hybrid tug, as tugs in the harbor operate close to where they dock. While performing ship assist jobs in this harbor, tug boats spend very little time at peak power (peak RPM), and a tug's full horsepower is not being used most of the day. According to Foss, tugs in the San Pedro Bay port complex can spend up to 50 percent of their time idling. When the proposed hybrid tug idles, it will emit virtually zero emissions.

"Tugs are the backbone of ports worldwide, and the 'hybrid' tug Foss will produce is a first in the industry," said Geraldine Knatz Ph.D. executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. "Because the air emissions reductions are absolutely extraordinary, this is the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that our port encourages and welcomes in line with the San Pedro Bay Clean Air Action Plan."

"Foss is proud to be working with the San Pedro Bay Ports on such an important project as the hybrid tug," said Gary C. Faber, president and COO of Foss. "This is just the latest example of how Foss sits at the leading edge of maritime technology, engineering and shipbuilding. As a company, we're committed to maintaining our natural environment. Foss anticipates there will be a growing market for our 'green' tugs in the years to come."

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Government Technology

Florida School District to Receive Nation's First Plug-In Hybrid School Buses

On Friday, March 9th the Nation’s first plug-in hybrid school buses will be delivered to the Braden River High School in Bradenton Florida. The buses were developed by IC Corporation, the nation’s largest school bus manufacturer.

With up to 40% more fuel efficiency, the nation's first hybrid school bus launch is the first step in helping schools manage high fuel prices and transportation costs. The hybrid school bus also reduces diesel engine emissions by up to 90% for cleaner air. Manatee School District is taking delivery of the first units. Ten other states will receive hybrid school buses later this year.

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IC Corporation

Science Panel Outlines Roadmap for Reducing Risks from Climate Change

NEW YORK, NY--February 27, 2007--The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, released today “Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable, ” the final report of the Scientific Expert Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. The report, prepared as input for the upcoming meeting of the UN’s Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), outlines a roadmap for preventing unmanageable climate changes and adapting to the degree of change that can no longer be avoided.

Two years in the making, the report was written by a panel of eminent scientists from around the world. The panel was co-chaired by Dr. Peter Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, and Dr. Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment. The expert team was invited by the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Secretariat to the CSD, to make recommendations on key mitigation and adaptation needs. This year’s 15th Session of the CSD is reviewing national and international efforts on energy and climate change.

“Two starkly different futures diverge from this time forward,” the report cautions. “Society’s current path leads to increasingly serious climate-change impacts… The other path … will reduce dangerous emissions, create economic opportunity, help to reduce global poverty, reduce degradation and carbon emissions from ecosystems, and contribute to sustainability. Humanity must act collectively and urgently to change course through leadership at all levels of society. There is no more time for delay.”

“This report defines the seriousness and urgency that must characterize global efforts to respond to the unfolding and far-reaching challenge of climate change. Confronting Climate Change makes clear that we must start immediately to stabilize and then substantially reverse the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Timothy E. Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation. “The international community should be grateful that this remarkable panel of scientific all-stars from around the world has provided a roadmap for mitigating and adapting to climate change. And they have told us that there is tremendous economic opportunity in doing so.”

“Our report makes clear that the challenge before us is to reduce the risk of climate change resulting in intolerable global impacts,” said Peter H. Raven, Past President of Sigma Xi, Presidential Medal of Science recipient and preeminent biodiversity expert. “Our recommendations are designed to help the international community get on a path to stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and managing the impacts of climate change. Unlike many reports from scientists, this report gives very clear recommendations for what the international community and nations themselves must do to mitigate and adapt to climate change. These steps will contribute to achievement of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals; failing to do so will make those goals much harder, if not impossible to reach.”

“It is still possible to avoid an unmanageable degree of climate change, but the time for action is now,” said John Holdren, the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy, Harvard University, Director of the Woods Hole Research Center, and Chairman of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “The global-average surface temperature has already risen about 0.8°C above pre-industrial levels and is projected to rise another 2-4°C by 2100 if CO2 emissions and concentrations grow according to mid-range projections. Prudence dictates limiting the average temperature increase to no more than 2-2.5°C above the pre-industrial level, and our report offers clear recommendations for achieving that goal.”

“The world is experiencing climate disruption now and the increases in droughts, floods, and sea level rise that will occur in the coming decades will cause enormous human suffering and economic losses. The poorest are likely the most vulnerable. We imperil our children’s and grandchildren’s future if we fail to improve society’s capacity to adapt to a changing climate,” said Rosina Bierbaum, former Acting Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “We can manage water better, bolster disaster preparedness, increase surveillance for emerging diseases, make cities more resilient, move vulnerable populations and prepare for environmental refugees, design more drought-tolerant crops, use natural resources more sustainably, and enhance local capacity to cope with a suite of expected changes.”

The report covers an overview of the science of climate change; the importance of avoiding the risk of major impacts of climate change; options for mitigation; and steps that can be taken to prepare to adapt to anticipated climate change.Among the report’s key findings are:

• Exceeding global average temperature increases above 2-2.5°C above the 1750 pre-industrial level would entail “sharply increasing risk of intolerable impacts.”

To avoid exceeding the 2-2.5° C limit will require stabilizing atmospheric concentrations at the equivalent of no more than 450-500 ppm of CO2 (compared to about 380 ppm CO2-equivalent today). That in turn requires that global CO2 emissions peak no later than 2015 to 2020 at not much above their current level and decline by 2100 to about a third of that value.

A two-pronged strategy is needed: avoid the unmanageable (mitigation) and manage the unavoidable (adaptation).

• The technology exists to seize significant opportunities around the globe to reduce emissions and provide other economic, environmental and social benefits, including meeting the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. To do so, policy makers must immediately act by:
• Improving efficiency in the transportation sector through measures such as vehicle efficiency standards, fuel taxes, and registration fees/rebates that favor purchase of efficient and alternative fuel vehicles.
• Improving design and efficiency of commercial and residential buildings through building codes, standards for equipment and appliances, incentives for property developers and landlords to build and manage properties efficiently, and financing for energy-efficiency investments.
• Expanding the use of biofuels through energy portfolio standards and incentives to growers and consumers.
• Beginning immediately, designing and deploying only coal power-plant types that can be affordably retrofitted to capture and sequester CO2.
• Climate change and impacts from it are already being experienced, and there will be more even if mitigation efforts are successful. Societies must do more to adapt to ongoing and unavoidable changes in the Earth’s climate system by:
• Improving preparedness/response strategies and management of natural resources to cope with future climatic conditions that will be fundamentally different than those experienced for the last 100 years.
• Addressing the adaptation needs of the poorest and most vulnerable nations, which will bear the brunt of climate change impacts.
• Planning and building climate resilient cities.
• Strengthening international, national, and regional institutions to cope with weather-related disasters and an increasing number of climate change refugees.
• The international community, through the UN and related multilateral institutions, can play a crucial role in advancing action to manage the unavoidable and avoid the unmanageable by:
• Helping developing countries and countries with economies in transition to finance and deploy energy efficient and new energy technologies.
• Accelerating negotiations to develop a new international framework for addressing climate change and sustainable development.
• Educating all about the opportunities to adopt mitigation and adaptation measures.

About Sigma XiSigma Xi
The Scientific Research Society is an international honor society for research scientists and engineers, with more than 500 chapters and 60,000 members in North America and around the world. The society sponsors a number of programs that promote science and engineering and also publishes American Scientist magazine. Sigma Xi’s administrative offices are in Research Triangle Park, N.C. http://www.sigmaxi.org/

About the UN Foundation
The UN Foundation was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems and also works to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach. The UN Foundation is a public charity. http://www.unfoundation.org/

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Confronting Climate Change:
Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable

Find out:
How CleanAIR Systems is making a difference in reducing harmful emissions of fine particulate matter and NOx