This month marks a new beginning; the beginning of a new year, and a dawn of a new emissions age.
Effective this month, heavy-duty engine and truck makers will offer new models that comply with the additional new standards for lower emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and minimum fuel economy levels, as required by EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Truck OEMs have been chasing these standards for years, and a recent report revealed their engineering teams have caught and passed them.
A new study released by the Coordinating Research Council, in cooperation with the Health Effects Institute, found a more than 60 percent reduction in emissions of nitrogen dioxide as from clean diesel engines compared to previous 2007 models, and 99 percent reduction compared to 2004 models.
The study noted that the reductions “exceeded substantially even those levels required by law.”
Those are some fantastically positive results considering the expectations set forth for 2014 truck emissions accelerate well into the 2020s.
The study, the Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study (ACES), is a multi-party five year study to test the emissions and health effects of the new technology diesel engines to document the improvements that have been made, and to ensure there are no unintended emissions from this new technology, Diesel Technology Forum says.
