As Deadline Nears, Clean Diesel Widely Available

[DoYouEverWonder]

October 10, 2006

The biggest revolution in highway fuels since lead was removed from gasoline is nearly complete, federal officials said today, with most of the nation’s trucks and buses now running on a cleaner-burning version of diesel fuel.

The new diesel mixture, which contains just 3 percent of the pollution-generating sulfur that was in the old one, was to be available at most U.S. filling stations by Sunday under an Environmental Protection Agency regulation.

Like lead, sulfur generates airborne pollution that leads to severe health consequences. It also gums up the works of finely tuned pollution-control devices, making it difficult to produce cleaner-burning engines. So the new low-sulfur fuel will pave the way for new generations of diesel engines that will eventually cut lethal particulate pollution from diesel tailpipes by 95 percent.

On Tuesday, the Bush administration embraced this signal accomplishment as its own, ignoring the 1990’s origins of the underlying regulation and the fact it became effective in the month before President Bush took office.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/10/us/10cnd-diesel.html?hp&ex=1160539200&en=64a313b95b5af273&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[skids]

1. Maybe now we'll see a hybrid diesel offered...

With the new standards the emissions systems needed to make the PZEV/ULEV benchmarks will doubtless be cheaper.

[physioex]

2. I am very impressed with the clean diesels......

No it won't solve all our problems, but it is a step in the right direction. The heavy trucks on the road today seem to be emitting a far less soot from what I remember.....

[skids]

4. They could do even better...

There's this, too, which is starting to catch on:

http://chechfi.ca

[kestrel91316]

5. I definitely have noticed less and less of the black smoke spewing

from truck tailpipes the last couple of years.

Of course we saw HUGE improvements in diesel pollutants when the MTA switched entirely to CNG buses several years ago. No more choking to death when you get stuck behind a bus!

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. That's what I want

A hybrid diesel.

[merwin]

6. That would get insane gas mileage

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. Not to mention a bit of flexiblity

because you could also use biodiesel.

I'm all for reducing our dependence of foreign oil.

[dipsydoodle]

7. We've been using it in the UK since 1997

Does Bu*h claim credit for that too ? :rofl:

edit to inc. info. link and snip :
Ultra Low Sulphur Petrol has been the standard grade of unleaded petrol on UK forecourts since June 2001, replacing Premium Unleaded petrol (UL 95) and Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel has been the standard grade of diesel since the middle of 1999
http://www.ukpia.com/faqs/new_fuelssulphurfree_petrol_diesel_lpg.aspx