Why Pa. deserves praise for use of VW settlement money
Gov. Tom Wolf and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection deserve praise, not condemnation, for how they are planning to spend the first $8.5 million coming to the state through the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust. Gov. Wolf ’s spending decisions are based on careful, sound analysis of how to deliver Pennsylvania the greatest amount of clean air possible with the available funding.
The real issue here is that groups such as Penn Environment and the
Penn PIRG Education Fund don’t like the results be- cause the strategy doesn’t comply with their “everything-all-electric” approach. They can’t imagine cleaner air any other way.
Fortunately for all Pennsylvanians, Gov. Wolf and his team have more sense.
Just over $3 million from this first-round funding will go to swapping out old diesel engines with new, near-zero emission diesel technology in a variety of applications.
In total, this funding delivers 34 state-of-the-art school buses, 24 latestgeneration Class 8 trucks, two new bulk collection trucks, five new service vehicles, 14 modernized trash trucks, a new-generation bulldozer and a new shuttle bus — all powered by the latest, cleanest generation of diesel technology.
These new engines are among the cleanest on the road today. In fact, they are not that far from achieving zeroemissions. Over the last 30 years, diesel technology has fundamentally transformed, virtually eliminating emissions of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen, and dramatically reducing carbon dioxide. Modern near-zero diesel systems rely on a combination of advanced engine technologies, emissions control systems, and cleaner fuels like ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel. It would take more than 60 of today’s generation of heavy-duty diesel trucks to equal the emissions of a single truck manufactured in 1990.
Far greater emission reductions can be had by replacing older diesel with these new diesel engines. The emissions-reduced-per-dollar advantage of diesel over other technology options is anywhere from three to 10 times more cost effective. For example: at a 50% split share, replacing one old school bus with new-technology diesel is more than six times more cost-effective than going electric. Putting this in dollars and cents: One school district in California determined that going allelectric would cost almost $4 million more than replacing its aging fleet of 32 buses with new diesel options.
Even more emissions reductions could be possible through a switch to high-quality advanced renewable biobased diesel fuels, instead of using conventional petroleum diesel fuel. Both new and existing diesel engines of all kinds can immediately lower the carbon footprint of their operation by utilizing low-carbon biofuels such as biodiesel and renewable diesel.
These fuels cut carbon emissions by at least 50%. (In the case of advanced renewable diesel fuel, the greenhousegas-eliminating-power is over 80%.) Both fuel types are fast becoming available across the United States, and switching does not require any additional investments in refueling infrastructure.
Want a success story? Consider the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency in California, which removed more than 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide in a single year, simply by switching to renewable diesel fuel in 632 transit buses.
And, while all-electric technologies may result in zero tailpipe emissions, they are not yet available in many applications. In contrast, nearly every aspect of modern life relies on diesel in some form — whether it be the planting and harvesting of agricultural products, the movement of people and goods, the mining of essential minerals, the delivery of clean drinking water, or the support of vital public health infrastructure such as wastewater treatment or continuous electricity. For many of these applications, diesel will remains the dominant solution for years to come.
The bottom line: Energy efficiency and emissions reductions should be valued no matter how they are achieved, and not be limited by the shape, size or “radicality” of the technology delivering them. Environmental advocates who say they support clean air apparently only do so when it is convenient and favors their approach.
Far greater emission reductions are possible and available now, at a lower cost, with new diesel technologies. More new buses, trucks and equipment can be put on the road if they’re powered by diesel than by electric, which means more Pennsylvanians will benefit.
Because of Gov. Wolf’s funding choices, more Pennsylvanians will get to experience cleaner air sooner. There’s still $109.5 million left to spend over the next three years. Let’s keep our sights set on which projects deliver the most real-world results, rather than on the newest, shiniest toy.
Allen Schaeffer is executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, a nonprofit educational organization that represents engine manufacturers and suppliers.