|
|
Earth Talk
Dear EarthTalk: Are hybrid buses in my city really helping
to reduce air pollution?
--Jennifer
Cross, New York, NY
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 20
percent of U.S. air pollution comes from diesel buses--and
many of them are concentrated in cities. The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) currently runs a program called Clean
School Bus USA, an effort to reduce both children’s exposure
to diesel exhaust and the amount of air pollution created by
diesel school buses. The EPA has also recently passed tougher
standards for all diesel-powered vehicles, but they won't go
into effect until 2006. In the meantime, many cities are still
trying to meet federal Clean Air Act rules, especially given
rising rates of asthma, particularly in children. One of the
ways cities can clean up their air is by employing
alternatives to traditional diesel engines for both public and
school buses.
“Retrofitting” (modifying) older buses, which includes
adapting them to use cleaner-burning fuels and incorporating
pollution controls, can reduce emissions, but hybrid buses
offer increased benefits. A Department of Energy study reports
that hybrid buses, which combine a diesel engine with an
electric motor, outperform regular diesel buses in a variety
of categories, offering 10 percent higher fuel economy, 19
percent lower carbon dioxide emissions and a whopping 97
percent reduction in carbon monoxide emissions. John Powell,
executive director of the Advanced Transportation Technology
Institute, sees the dual-fueled hybrids as the optimal choice
with the most benefits. Hybrids have already been successfully
introduced in New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut,
Minnesota, Washington state and Toronto, Canada.
However, many environmentalists would like to do away with
using diesel fuel altogether: “Replacing diesel buses with
those fueled with natural gas or electricity will help to
provide important health protections for people with lung
disease,” says Bonnie Holmes-Gen, assistant vice president for
government relations with the American Lung Association of
California. Some cities, like Boston, already run compressed
natural gas buses. Still others are looking into blending
hydrogen with natural gas to create a low-emission fuel for
buses called “hythane.” Whatever the alternatives, putting
pressure on your local transit authority to buy hybrid
vehicles or burn cleaner fuels will result in cleaner air for
everyone.
CONTACTS: Natural Resources Defense Council, (212) 727-2700,
www.nrdc.org; EPA’s Clean
School Bus USA,
http://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/; Advanced
Transportation Technology Institute, (423) 622-3884,
www.atti-info.org; American
Lung Association of California, (510) 638-LUNG,
www.californialung.org.
GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o
E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT
06881; or submit your question at:
www.emagazine.com, or e-mail us at: earthtalk@emagazine.com.
|
|