New Efficiencies May Be Closer Than You Think
Truck builders and suppliers have an array of technologies coming.
There are many people, both outside this industry and within, who think trucking sees itself as a champion of opposition to engine emissions regulations. It's easy to develop that perception when regulators propose extreme controls, and industry experts respond by saying they're going too far, too fast.
Case in point: EPA's accelerated deadline for lower diesel emissions a year ago. It brought a semi-panicky rush of engine developments. Trucking spokespeople said it would hurt, that they needed more time.
They were right; it did hurt some. But we seem to have taken the pain quite admirably and the industry is moving on, coming back.
Next up will be super-strict diesel emissions limits in 2007 through 2010. Some say that to meet them, the air coming out of an engine will have to be cleaner than the air going in.
Truck manufacturers and their suppliers aren't sitting back and wringing their hands. They know what needs to be done in the years ahead, and the extent of their efforts reaches a lot further, we think, than most people may realize.
That point was driven home, big-time, at the September Bibendum Challenge near San Francisco. Sponsored annually by Michelin, it showcases alternative powertrains and fuels that are environmentally friendly. Some, no doubt, have a bright future in trucking.
These were not models or concepts, but actual working prototypes from all over the world.
There was a trash truck operating on a mixture of liquid natural gas and diesel fuel; an LNG daycab tractor that's in regular service; and an over-the-road tractor that uses a fuel cell for auxiliary power (no idling; no emissions).
Another fuel solution already on working trucks in Sweden is Biogas, derived from animal waste, landfills and other methane-producing sources (don't laugh; think of all the cows we have in this country).
An exhaust aftertreatment system that could well be one of the 2007 solutions was there. So was a hybrid electric step-van (50% better fuel economy; huge drop in emissions) that's being evaluated by Federal Express. And a regenerative braking system that hikes fuel economy 37% and cuts brake maintenance in half.
You can read more details in this month's Emissions Authority (page 60), where Senior Editor Steve Sturgess reports on what he saw at the Bibendum Challenge.
Doug Condra
President
E-mail Doug Condra at dcondra@truckinginfo.com, or write PO Box W. Newport Beach, Calif. 92656.
