The Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association said even though its members installed more than 24,000 diesel retrofit devices last year, more government incentives are needed to upgrade the older diesel engines in operation.
MECA, based in Washington, said July 6 its members sold and installed 24,649 retrofit devices to cut pollution emissions from diesel engines in 2010.
“Although sales of diesel particulate filters and diesel oxidation catalysts have remained steady over the past several years, these numbers are relatively small compared to the overall number of diesel engines currently operating in the U.S.,” MECA said. The organization cited EPA estimates of 20 million diesel engines in operation in the country.
MECA said that federal government funding from the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, known as DERA, totaled $531 million from fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2011.
MECA said that Congress re-authorized DERA in 2010 for fiscal years 2012 through 2016, “but no funding has been appropriated yet.”
The government funding “has helped provide much-needed funding and financial incentives for many clean diesel projects, using retrofit devices, as well as engine repowers and vehicle replacements,” MECA said. “However, more dedicated and innovative funding is needed to clean up all of the diesel engines in the existing fleet.”
