Modern, no-emissions diesel engines gain market penetration

Updated Jun 26, 2013
According to a report released this week from the Diesel Technology Forum, about 28 percent of trucks registered in the U.S. employ 2007 or later emissions mitigation technology and output almost no particulate matter or NOx.

DTF’s report says about 2.5 million of the 8.6 million trucks in the U.S. are “clean diesel engines,” and the data used by R.L. Pok and Company — who compiled the report for DTF — includes registration information for 2007 to 2012 Class 3-8 trucks in all 50 states and D.C.

Allen Schaeffer, executive director of DTF, says modern emissions technology has reduced NOx output by 99 percent and particulate matter by 98 percent. “Emissions from today’s diesel trucks and buses are near zero thanks to more efficient engines, more effective emissions control technology and the nationwide availability of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel,” he says. “What makes the new diesel technology even more remarkable is model year 2010 and later trucks are experiencing an average of three to five percent improvement in fuel economy.”

The percentage of trucks equipped with 2007 or later emissions tech has increased by 3-5 percent each year since 2007, DTF’s report shows. That year, about 9.4 percent of trucks on the road used that year’s technology. That number rose to 13.9 percent in 2008, 16.9 percent in 2009, 20.1 percent in 2010 and 24.1 percent in 2011.

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