BP sees ULSD as far more cost-effective emissions strategy

Diesel Fuel News, March 17, 2003

Ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) can "remove more pollution off the road quicker and cheaper" than alternative-fuels schemes, BP official Dave Smith told the World Truck Conference in California this month.

While alt-fuels vehicle certification levels might be lower in nitrogen oxides (NOx) on a per-vehicle basis, ULSD/clean-diesel offers greater fleet-wide NOx and particulate matter (PM) reductions per dollar spent, thanks to today's lower-NOx diesel engines.

CARB's own staff report on lower-emissions school buses shows that $30 million spent on clean-diesel cuts more total tons of NOx and PM than can be bought with high-cost compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. That's because 356 clean-diesel buses can be bought for the same money spent on 254 CNG buses, with a net 878 tons of [NO.sub.x] reduction with clean-diesel versus only 706 tons[NO.sub.x] reduction with CNG. Clean-diesel also delivers a net 84 tons PM reduction versus 60 tons via CNG.

What's more, California doesn't require oxidation catalysts on CNG in order to slash "toxics" down to the levels of clean-diesels, even though these are now available for new CNG vehicles. Retrofitting such catalysts onto older CNG vehicles isn't required, either -- assuming this is possible without wrecking the catalyst from documented CNG problems with backfiring.

While ULSD wholesale rack prices are about 3-7 cents/gallon over conventional diesel with no infrastructure cost, CNG costs millions for refueling infrastructure for a relative handful of buses. Los Angeles MTA spent $4 million on CNG refueling for just 200 buses, while Sacramento spent $3.5 million for only 136 buses.

Bottom line: "Cleaner diesel can likely remove more pollution, including NOx, off the road quicker and cheaper," Smith said.

This factor ought to trigger more public dialogue on California emissions reduction strategies, he said. "Are the short and long-term benefits from switching to an alt-fuel worth the costs?" Smith asked.