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The following OpEd article was written by Joanna D. Underwood and
printed in The New York Times on Sunday, July 30, 2006. Ms. Underwood,
an environmental consultant, is the founder and former president of
Inform, a nonprofit research organization.
Some may think Smithtown, a small city in New York state, an unlikely pioneer in a major technology
revolution. But last month, leaders of this community of 116,000 made a
historic decision: by January, all refuse trucks serving the town must
be powered by natural gas instead of diesel fuel. Smithtown is the
first community on the East Coast to do this, and, if we're lucky,
other cities will follow its lead.
Why should communities buy new, different and seemingly more expensive
refuse trucks? The big heavy diesel trucks, providing an essential
service, rumble down residential streets nationwide largely ignored by
citizens (unless, of course, they don't pick up the trash on time). But
recent research conducted by Inform, under my leadership, shows that we
can't afford to ignore them anymore.
The more than 136,000 refuse trucks on American roadways are major
polluters, emitting exhaust that contains soot, smog-forming nitrogen
oxides and a variety of carcinogens onto every doorstep. These vehicles
are one of the main reasons that at least 160 million Americans live in
areas where the air quality violates health standards set by the United
States Environmental Protection Agency, and that there are alarming
rates of upper respiratory illnesses, especially among children and the
elderly.
At a time when United States reliance on foreign oil is a front-page
concern, these trucks also consume huge amounts of petroleum-based
diesel fuel. Averaging only 2.8 miles per gallon, each truck burns
about 8,600 gallons of diesel fuel a year. As world competition
increases for dwindling supplies of oil, our country could soon face
not only price spikes but also supply disruptions that affect both the
cost and the reliability of urban services.
Fortunately, there's some good news. The huge polluting diesel fleets
could become much cleaner and largely independent of foreign oil were
they powered by natural gas. While more than 62 percent of the oil we
use is imported (much of it from unstable parts of the world), 97
percent of the natural gas is produced in North America. And while all
new heavy-duty vehicles will be getting cleaner beginning next year
because of more stringent federal emissions standards, natural gas
engines will still produce only one- sixth of the nitrogen oxides of
comparable diesel engines.
As a bonus, natural gas trucks are much quieter than diesel trucks and
produce fewer greenhouse gases. Use of these cleaner, quieter trucks
not only safeguards the health and quality of life in our communities
but it also protects sanitation workers who breathe truck fumes day
after day.
Use of natural gas trucks also lays the groundwork for a longer-term
shift to trucks powered by renewable pollution- free hydrogen. Natural
gas is the pathway to the hydrogen era because of the many similarities
between the two gaseous fuels and the technologies needed to use them.
And when hydrogen trucks finally become available, the fleets operating
natural gas trucks will be poised to make that shift. Natural gas
(which is 80 percent hydrogen) will probably be the primary source of
hydrogen for vehicles until hydrogen made from water using renewable
energy becomes affordable and provides a fully sustainable solution.
From 2002 to 2005, the number of communities in the United States
operating natural gas trucks doubled to 57 from 26, and the number of
trucks expanded to almost 1,500 from 750. California, the leader in
embracing this technology, is home to the country's five-largest
fleets. New York, Texas and the District of Columbia are a distant
second, third and fourth.
But in 2005, Congress enacted legislation providing financial
incentives to buy and use alternative fuel vehicles, including natural
gas trucks, and Albany just put in place significant additional state
incentives. So 2006 is the year when other states and communities -
especially here in New York - have a great reason to get on board. The
new incentives will largely cover the higher initial costs of buying
and building refueling equipment for natural gas trucks and will ensure
an important price advantage for natural gas fuel.
Smithtown's supervisor estimates that over the seven-year life of the
town's new contract, the 30 or so natural gas trucks will give
Smithtown residents cleaner air, reduced costs and eliminate the need
for more than 2.5 million gallons of petroleum. This alone will not
bring OPEC to its knees, but if Smithtown becomes a model for the rest
of the East Coast, who knows how broad its impact might be.
Joanna D. Underwood
Underwood Energy Associates
138 E 13th Street
New York, NY 10003
tel: 212 254-5777
email:
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