Clearing the air with hybrid buses.The soot spewing from the exhaust pipes of diesel buses doesn't just look dirty, it is dirty, accounting for 20 percent of U.S. air pollution, says the Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a New York City-based, non-profit non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing. Founded in 1970, NRDC today has 1. . Some forward-thinking transit agencies are fighting back with hybrid diesel-electric buses. New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. Transit (NYCT NYCT New York City Transit NYCT New York Community Trust NYCT New York Circle of Translators ), for example, took the lead and purchased 10 prototype hybrid buses in 1998, helping clear the air in a metropolis with very poor air quality. A Department of Energy (DOE) study reports that hybrid buses, combining a diesel engine with an electric motor, outperform regular diesel buses in a variety of categories, offering 10 percent higher fuel economy, 19 percent lower carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. emissions and a 97 percent reduction in carbon monoxide carbon monoxide, chemical compound, CO, a colorless, odorless, tasteless, extremely poisonous gas that is less dense than air under ordinary conditions. It is very slightly soluble in water and burns in air with a characteristic blue flame, producing carbon dioxide; emissions. "The days of the dirty diesel bus are numbered," says Dan Becker, director of Sierra Club's Global Warming and Energy Program. "The federal Clean Air Act requires states to reduce soot and smog emissions, and hybrids are a good way to do this." Buoyed by the success of the prototypes, NYCT has ordered an additional 325 diesel-electric buses. Other states are following suit, including Washington, where Seattle's King County Metropolitan Transit Authority recently purchased 235 diesel hybrid buses. New Jersey Transit The New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) is a statewide public transportation system serving the state of New Jersey, and Orange and Rockland counties in New York. It operates bus, light rail, and commuter rail services throughout the state, notably connecting to major , the nation's largest statewide public transportation system, has used $8.5 million in federal funds Federal Funds Funds deposited to regional Federal Reserve Banks by commercial banks, including funds in excess of reserve requirements. Notes: These non-interest bearing deposits are lent out at the Fed funds rate to other banks unable to meet overnight reserve to buy seven hybrid buses. Connecticut, Minnesota and Toronto, Canada are also buying hybrids. "Like anything else, it takes time to get this new technology into the marketplace," explains John Powell, executive director of the Advanced Transportation Technology Institute. Powell sees the dual-fueled hybrids as the optimal choice with the most benefits. "Hybrids have an advantage over single-fueled vehicles," says Powell. "A good hybrid can provide economic benefits regardless of the fuel you're using." Transit passengers and environmental activists can get active to increase the number of cleaner buses on America's roadways. "We need to pressure city councils and administrative agencies to purchase cleaner alternatives," says Becker. "Bus manufacturers aren't falling over themselves to promote more eco-friendly buses." CONTACT: Advanced Transportation Technology Institute, (423)622-3884, www.etvi.org; Natural Resources Defense Council, (212)727-2700, www.nrdc.org; The Sierra Club, (415)977-5500, www.sierra club.org. |
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