U.S. and China Collaborate on Clean Diesel

November 17, 2004

Posted on Nov 18, 2004

(Bejing, China - 17 November, 2004) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and China's State Environmental Protection Administration today announced a demonstration project to retrofit about 20 existing buses and trucks in China with clean diesel technology. EPA will commit $250,000 and considerable work hours to the demonstration project and other collaborative efforts to reduce emissions of particulates and other pollutants in China.

"Cleaner diesel fuel and engines are the wave of the future," said EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt. "Diesel retrofit technology can be installed rapidly and inexpensively on existing vehicles, making the air cleaner for everyone."

The retrofit project is one of several clean fuels and vehicles initiatives EPA and China are jointly undertaking through a Memorandum of Understanding. In addition to the demonstration project to retrofit heavy-duty vehicles, the two nations will collaborate on improving fuel quality, which is vital to reducing particulates. By lowering the sulfur content in fuels and installing new clean diesel technologies, particulate emissions from heavy-duty diesel vehicles can be reduced by up to 90%.

"We will share cleaner emission control technologies and fuels with China as part of EPA's commitment to a cleaner environment," said Leavitt. "It helps them and it helps us."

At least $150,000 of EPA funding is set aside specifically for the diesel retrofitting project. EPA's partners will also contribute funding, equipment, research, expertise, data and time. The retrofit demonstration project will lay the groundwork for expanded retrofits of older, heavily polluting vehicles in Beijing. Future projects may address new clean vehicle technologies, on-road and non-road vehicle standards, and on-board diagnostics.

As a member of the global Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, the U.S. is engaging in similar efforts in Chile, India, Thailand and Mexico.

More information about the Beijing Diesel Retrofit Project and EPA's Voluntary Diesel Retrofit Program is at: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/retrofit/latestnews.htm