A new Department of Transportation study hints that the Obama administration’s ambitious plans to increase heavy truck fuel efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases emissions will likely rely on a combination of existing aerodynamic design technologies and future diesel engine modifications that have barely left the laboratory or are still under development.
The 600-page study, presented to Congress last month, offers a roadmap of DOT’s latest thinking on transportation’s role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving heavy truck fuel economy and efficiency.
The Obama administration Friday unveiled plans to set tighter fuel economy standards on big rigs for the first time, starting in model year 2014. (Click here for previous story.)
“Reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change is one of the great challenges of our time,” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “This report provides valuable information that will help us in our effort to protect the environment.”
The study of the transportation sector, a requirement contained in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, was a joint effort by DOT’s Center for Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting and transportation consultant Cambridge Systematics Inc.
The study said that greenhouse gases emissions from the U.S. transportation sector has grown by 27% from 1990 to 2006. However, over that same period, medium and heavy-duty truck emissions increased 77%.
The study said the increases were driven by factors ranging from the expansion of freight trucking after deregulation of the industry in the 1980s to just-in-time manufacturing and retailing and more time-sensitive shipments.
Fleets that have adopted certified vehicles and trailers under the Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay program are estimated to use 10% to 20% less fuel per truck when compared to conventional vehicles.
