EPA to Award $5 Million for Midwest Clean-Diesel Projects
The EPA's Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative has got some money for you. Well, if you're involved in finding ways to reduce emissions produced by diesel engines, it does. Since diesel engines are found in so many applications, it's nice to see that the EPA will consider ways to clean up not only buses and trucks, but also "marine engines, locomotives and non-road engines or vehicles."The EPA is accepting applications for diesel-emission reduction projects in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin until June 12. A total of $5m will be awarded in this round. More details can be found in the official announcement after the break or at the MCDI's website.
Press Release:
EPA to Award $5 Million for Midwest Clean-Diesel Projects
CHICAGO, March 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5's Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative today announced that it expects to award some $5 million in grants for diesel-emission reduction projects in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Project proposals will be accepted until June 12.
Projects may include, but are not limited to, a variety of diesel emission reduction solutions such as retrofit technologies, idle-reduction technologies, cleaner fuel use, engine upgrades, vehicle or equipment replacement, and creation of innovative financing programs for emission reduction projects. Engines and equipment may include school or transit buses, medium or heavy-duty trucks, marine engines, locomotives and non-road engines or vehicles.
Grant funds come from the National Clean Diesel Campaign and are authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The act authorizes EPA to offer cooperative agreements to eligible organizations on a competitive basis.
The Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative is a collaboration of federal, state and local agencies, along with communities, non-profit organizations and private companies working together to reduce emissions from diesel engines in the Midwest.
Diesel emissions contain large amounts of nitrogen oxides and fine particles (soot). Nitrogen oxides are precursors of ground-level ozone (smog), which is a lung irritant, and fine particles can aggravate respiratory and heart diseases. Fine particles can also impair lung function and structure.
Nationwide, diesel engines emit some 6.3 million tons of nitrogen oxides and 305,000 tons of soot. Reducing these emissions is one of the most important air quality challenges facing the country.
A copy of the request for proposals is at www.grants.gov and www.epa.gov/midwestcleandiesel.
For more information, contact Steve Marquardt at marquardt.steve@epa.gov.
[Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
rgseidl 6:45AM (3/16/2008)
$5 million is a token effort at best.
What's needed are very large BTL plants running off dry biomass - agricultural and forestry waste streams - whose clean CO2 emissions are piped into algal oil bioreactors supporting the production of FAME (biodiesel), ethanol or other valuable fuel compounds, plus animal feed or fertlizer. Such a hybrid system would achieve much higher yields than BTL alone.
One problem is that most biomass is wet and drying it takes a large amount of heat. Waste heat from the BTL plants is high grade and ought to be used for electricity generation. A better approach would be to focus on feedstocks that are relatively dry to begin (e.g. straw, walnut shells), supplemented by those that grow rapidly on poor soils with little water, e.g. miscanthus.
A second problem is that such a system would have to be privately funded at least in part by the oil industry, which would also blend and distribute the fuel products. In the US in particular, the oil industry currently has little incentive to change its business model. European oil giants like Shell and BP are more receptive to such ideas because they have fewer proven reserves and fewer opportunities for finding new ones.
A third problem is that the proposed setup will only be profitable if oil prices remain high, something that is currently the case but that politicians have been unwilling to guarantee via a floor tax. Investments in petrochemical infrastructure need to amortize over 20-30 years, so the go-ahead is usually only given if they will be profitable even if the price of oil collapses.
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