Campaign for Clean Air Is Producing Power That's Lean and Green
By the time the year is through, the clean diesel movement will have made significant strides. Since 1996, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began regulating off-road diesel tailpipe emissions, pollutants from many of the engines powering heavy construction machines have been cut by more than 80%. By this time next year, over-the-road trucks will be more than 90% cleaner as well. Diesel fuel with an “ultra low sulfur” rating will be required on highway vehicles later this year, and the chrome exhaust stacks that flank the cabs of most trucks won’t be spewing clouds of black smoke into the air, thanks to new particulate filters.
And there is still more to come in the diesel clean-up campaign. The next decade will see even tighter restrictions on engine makers, fuel suppliers and equipment builders, which eventually will ripple down to construction firms. As costs increase, contractors will put more pressure on suppliers to make diesel engines more efficient and economical. Innovations needed to tackle the challenge will force engineers to reinvent the diesel engine and its subsystems.