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Diesel Retrofits a Big Deal
Your recent editorial,
"Without Clean Fuel, Builders Will Be Running on Empty,"
opines that retrofitting construction equipment is "not
a big deal," and the old phrase, "money talks,"
will dictate how the construction industry deals with the
millions of legacy diesels that will not get scrapped for
many years (ENR 8/15 p. 52).
The California Air Resources Board
(CARB) staff is working with the Construction Industry Air
Quality Coalition (CIAQC) and other stakeholders to develop
a control measure that will reduce particulate matter emissions
from in-use off-road diesel engines. The proposed measure
could include purchasing new equipment, repowering existing
machines with Tier 2 and higher engines and retrofitting with
particulate filters and other verified control devices. Its
goal is to reduce particulate emissions by 75% by 2010 and
85% by 2020. The control measure is scheduled to go to CARB
for adoption late next year.
Let me assure you that repowering
or retrofitting most of the estimated 180,000 heavy-duty diesel
engines in California by 2010 or earlier is a big deal both
from the standpoint of availability and economic impact on
the buyer. The industry may not be able to produce the necessary
number of off-road engines due to the introduction of the
on-highway engines in 2007. Also, CARB has not verified any
diesel particulate filter and only one other emission control
device for heavy-duty off-road engines–the Lubrizol Unikat.
We cannot imagine how long it would take that company to produce
the 100,000 or more devices to meet CARB emission reduction
goals.
Then there is the matter of affordability.
The typical construction contractor uses its existing equipment
as a bond for bids and collateral for rebuilding and repowering
equipment. If required by a CARB regulation to replace all
of it by 2010, he would have no option but to operate illegally
or shut down.
CIAQC has proposed that CARB adopt
a control measure that would require off-road vehicles used
in construction projects of steadily decreasing size achieve
a project-wide fleet average of 20% nitrogen oxide reduction
and 45% particulate reduction compared to the most recent
CARB fleet average at time of construction. By 2020 the measure
would require all off-road vehicles to be powered by Tier
4 engines or be retrofitted with a Level 3 (85% emission reduction)
verified device.
We believe that a project-based
measure would result in greater overall emission reductions
than one that would require every owner to meet an emission
standard by 2010. It would also give many contractors in California
a chance to stay in business.
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