Hybrid Trucks Take the Hill

June 12, 2009

Email this story Print this post Add your comments

A high-tech truck convoy arrived on Capitol Hill this week, showcasing the fuel-saving hybrid technology in the nation’s biggest vehicles. Duke University also unveiled its new study that finds hybrids provide the U.S. with a strategic opportunity in competitiveness, green jobs and reduced pollution.

The first Hybrid Day On the Hill, organized by clean transportation group CALSTART and its Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF), warns that hybrid trucks need help to succeed and retain the technology lead American firms now have. The event featured 17 medium- and heavy-duty hybrids from five major truck makers and six driveline suppliers including ArvinMeritor, Azure Dynamics, Bosch Rexroth, Daimler, Dueco/Odyne, Eaton, Mack, Peterbilt, Freightliner, Kenworth, Navistar, UPS, and FedEx Express.

In November, FedEx announced a plan to purchase vehicles that combine Azure Dynamics’ hybrid system with a Ford gasoline engine and chassis and claims to be one of the first to use gasoline hybrid-electric delivery trucks for commercial use, reports CNET News. Peterbilt began offering four hybrid models of commercial trucks in 2008, and UPS is using hybrid trucks with Eaton’s energy-saving Series Hybrid Hydraulic System technology, according to the CNET blog.

The event outlined the benefits of hybrid technology, and provided highlights from a new Duke University study, commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund and CALSTART’s Hybrid Truck Users Forum Incentives Working Group. The report indicates that more than 30 states are home to truck and component manufacturing and development in the clean truck sector, and that the growth of the industry offers solid economic opportunities for the U.S.

The U.S. trucking industry consumes more than 52 billion gallons of fuel each year and accounts for 21 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from transport activities, according to the report. By using hybrid drivetrain technology for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, the industry can improve fuel economy by 20-50 percent with a corresponding decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and smog-forming pollutants.

According to hybrid truck industry estimates, U.S. production of hybrid commercial trucks is expected to reach 4,850 units in 2010. Under the low (20 percent savings) and high (50 percent savings) scenarios this would translate into an estimated 4 million to 10 million gallons of fuel saved and 47,000 to 116,000 tons of CO2 reduced per year, according to the study.

The study finds that by 2020, if the market produces 60,000 hybrid trucks as projected, these low and high scenarios would translate into an estimated 52 million to 130 million gallons of fuel saved and .6 million to 1.4 million tons of CO2 reduced per year.

Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Advertisers

Make sustainability part of your strategy.

Get equipped at the SAP Sustainability Resource Center. >>

Unclear about the EPA's new GHG Rule?

Learn how it could affect your business. >>

EPA mandatory emissions reporting starts Jan 1st

CSA Standards can help your organization get ready for compliance. Find out how. >>

Survey Results: Product Environmental Compliance Best Practices

How to achieve compliance at a significantly lower cost. Download the full report. >>

Join the Discussion

Recent Daily News [ see all ]

11/20/2009
11/19/2009
11/18/2009

Charts [ see all ]

European Paper Industry Cuts CO2 Emissions by 42% since 1990

S. America Takes Most Urgent View of Copenhagen Talks

Nike Tops Annual Climate Action Scores

Oceans May Trap more Carbon than Forests

Jobs

View All Jobs >> Post a Job >>

Comments and Discussions

Trade Association on Trade Group on EPA Chemical Regs: ‘If Everything is a Priority, Then Nothing is a Priority’
"Seriously… that..."

Gary Markowitz on Supermarkets Tackle Emissions Reductions, Fuel Efficiency
"Supermarkets waste over 10 percent of their energy through improper..."

peter in ireland on Ontario May Follow California’s Lead on TV Energy Efficiency
"Governor Schwarzenegger is shooting himself in the foot! 1...."

Environmental Leader on S. America Takes Most Urgent View of Copenhagen Talks
"The survey respondents (the PDF report mentions 4,000 respondents in 38..."

Jake on UPS Trying New Hydraulic Hybrid Trucks
"A point of clarification: the Reuters press release referenced herein reports that 20 UPS will purchase..."

Custom Organic Shirts on S. America Takes Most Urgent View of Copenhagen Talks
"90% of North Americans believe it is urgent to get a global climate..."

peter dublin on California City’s Green Building Ordinance Applies to Commercial Buildings
"Why energy efficiebnt regulation on buildings –..."

Environmental Leader