Energy Transitions, Carbon Reduction and Climate Change: Diesel Technology's Role in the Future

(Diesel Technology Forum) Continuous improvement and investments in the newest generations of dominant and established technologies like diesel will be paramount to achieving and sustaining near-term reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Even as manufacturers explore other fuels and technology options, continued investments in diesel are strong indicators about the future for advanced diesel engines. -- The following is a statement from Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, on the occasion of Climate Week NYC. The Diesel Technology Forum is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to expanding the understanding about the energy efficiency, environmental performance and unique capabilities of diesel engines, fuels and equipment across 15 sectors of the global economy and how it has transformed to play a key role in the low-carbon future.

“Climate Week NYC brings an important focus on the broad challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As we are witnessing, transition to new fuels and technologies is likely to take considerable time to reach commercial scale and market acceptance. Decarbonizing the global economy is a complex and substantial undertaking that by definition will not have simple one-size fits all solutions, nor uniform timetables. Continuous improvement and investments in the newest generations of dominant and established technologies like diesel will be paramount to achieving and sustaining near-term reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

“Future diesel technology is evolving to meet the challenges of a low-carbon sustainable future, and is being defined by four trends: increasing energy efficiency, achieving even lower emissions, expanded use of renewable biodiesel fuels and hybridization. Considerable progress in each area is happening today helping ports, cities, communities and the entire goods movement system meet climate and clean air challenges of today and tomorrow.

“Across the board, today’s generation of advanced diesel technologies are more energy efficient and lower in emissions than previous generations, and remain the technology of choice in key sectors like commercial trucking, marine, agriculture, construction and freight rail applications. Coupled with growing success using advanced renewable bio-based fuels, diesel engines are well-positioned now and contributing already to low-carbon goods movement in America.

“Today in California we already see the results of using low-carbon biofuels in efficient diesel engines. In 2019, California’s use of biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels eliminated 6.6 million tons of CO2. Meanwhile, use of electric cars and trucks in the state resulted in only 2.7 million tons of CO2 reductions in 2019 – almost one third of the emissions reductions delivered by diesel engines using biodiesel fuels. Renewable diesel fuel’s contribution even edged out the reductions delivered by ethanol. Since the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program began in 2011, biodiesel and renewable diesel fuel have eliminated more than 25 million tons of CO2, according to the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

“New diesel trucks are so clean that it would take more than 60 new-generation diesel trucks to equal the emissions from one truck sold in 1988. Even further progress for lower emissions is on the horizon, as truck and engine manufacturers work with EPA on the Cleaner Trucks Initiative, developing tomorrow’s generation of diesel engines. From coupling with hybrid-electric technology and battery-storage systems, to pushing thermal efficiency boundaries, to advanced waste-heat recovery systems, to utilizing high-quality advanced renewable biodiesel fuels, new-generation advanced diesel technology is uniquely suited to enable commercial trucking to contribute to our sustainable future. READ MORE