Earth Day is about taking action to protect and enhance our environment; conserving our resources, using less energy, reducing emissions, all to improve the quality of our lives. We celebrate these as hallmarks of today’s diesel industry that enable us to play a leading role for the future built on these accomplishments.

• A ten-year effort hits an important milestone this year as new heavy-duty diesel trucks have near zero emissions.
• We celebrate ten years also of working as partners with U.S. EPA, environmental advocates, and state and local governments to modernize and upgrade the emissions of existing engines, vehicles and equipment to lower emissions levels.
• Introduction of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel to off-road machines and equipment in June 2010.

These accomplishments are delivering substantial clean air and energy efficiency benefits to communities around the country today, having a direct and positive impact on everyday lives.

Making your groceries greener:  Big-rig tractor-trailers, like those delivering groceries to your neighborhood store, may not look much different on the outside, but on the inside they are glowing green. New 2010 models are more fuel efficient and have near zero emissions, thanks to the nation's leaders in clean diesel truck technology - Cummins,  Freightliner,  Mack Trucks, Navistar and Volvo - who successfully slashed emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter by 98 percent over the last four years, while also making these new engines more fuel efficient.

Clean Diesel Hybrids Gain Ground: While much attention has been directed toward hybrid cars, the clean diesel engine and hybrid powertrain combination is now excelling at moving people and moving dirt! Transit districts across the country have long recognized the value of this unbeatable combination of energy efficiency. At New York City Transit, the world's largest hybrid transit bus fleet is now in operation with 303 low-floor diesel hybrid electric buses, with plans to expand this number to 520. Hybrid drive systems can now be found in the most powerful earthmovers. The Caterpillar D7E is the first hybrid drive Dozer that was recognized by U.S. EPA with a Clean Air Excellence Award.

Building, Farming and Powering a Greener, Cleaner Future:  Farm tractors, harvesters, construction machines and industrial equipment are on their way to fully implementing clean diesel technology.  The leaders in off-road engines and equipment Caterpillar, Cummins, John Deere and MTU manufacture the worlds most advanced and powerful engines and machines used in hundreds of different ways that contributes to our quality of life.  This year for Earth Day they are achieving an important mid-point milestone in their clean diesel progress by cutting 90 percent of emissions of particulate matter and half of all nitrogen oxide emissions compared to last years models.

Fueling our green efforts for off-road engines is a NEW super clean diesel fuel – ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel Available for highway vehicles since the fall of 2006, starting this June 2010, most engines, machines, tractors and equipment that run in off-road applications will also start using the cleaner diesel fuel. BP is a pioneer in bringing about ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, the foundation of clean diesel technology, and is now innovating for the future.

Modernizing and Upgrading: Retrofit.  2010 marks the ten-year mark in efforts to modernize and upgrade existing diesel engines and equipment.  Highlighted by a highly collaborative effort between government, industry and environmental advocates, today thousands of diesel engines have extended their lives and value, while reducing emissions through retrofitting, repowering, replacing or refueling. A first year report on the Diesel Emissions Reduction program from EPA to Congress highlighted the big benefits of diesel retrofitting.

Exhaust Emissions Control Technologies from industry leaders BASF Catalysts, Caterpillar, Cummins Emissions Solutions , Corning, Donaldson, Johnson Matthey, Tenneco are an integral part of every clean diesel system put on the road today, whether in light-duty diesel cars, heavy-duty trucks and off-road equipment, or marine vessels and locomotives as well as electric power generation.

Is buying a diesel car a good thing to do for Earth Day?
YES! More green for the earth and more green for your wallet. New clean diesel cars are 20-40 percent more fuel efficient than their gasoline counterparts, reducing your CO2 footprint. You’ll spend less time fueling up, go farther on a tank and have fewer emissions, but more fun when driving a new clean diesel car. And you can still get a federal tax credit for making the clean diesel choice through 2010, and can use renewable diesel fuels like biodiesel. For example, if you buy the 2010 Green Car of the Year the Audi A3 TDI you can get $1300 federal tax credit.

What is the diesel industry doing to help protect our climate?
As one of the most energy efficient technologies, using more clean diesel cars and trucks will reduce our energy consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) the primary greenhouse gas emission. Today’s new clean diesel commercial trucks are more fuel-efficient than previous models, which reduce CO2 emissions. All new clean diesel technology is near zero emissions for fine particles and black carbon, which is being evaluated for its contribution to global warming.

Have diesels won any Green Car awards?
A few. Green Car of the Year two years in a row (2009 VW Jetta TDI; 2010 Audi A3 TDI) and 2010 World Car (Volkswagen Bluemotion—Diesel).

How is the diesel industry helping to improve our air quality?
Thanks to ten years of progress in progressively reducing emissions, diesel engines now play a small role in overall air quality. New heavy-duty diesel engines are near zero emissions. We’re also using cleaner diesel fuel in existing engines and upgrading the emissions systems of a growing number of trucks, construction machines, farm tractors and marine vessels.

I want to do more.  Can diesel engines use renewable diesel fuels like biodiesel?
Yes! Manufacturers say that nearly all diesel engines in passenger cars can use up to a 5 percent blend of high-quality biodiesel fuel along with the ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. And new 2010 heavy-duty pick up trucks from Ram (Cummins TurboDiesel), GMC (Duramax), and Ford (Powerstroke) all allow up to a 20 percent blend of biodiesel fuel.

What’s next for diesel?
You haven’t seen anything yet as more categories of the clean diesel wave arrive in stages over the next few years (2011-2014) for off-road machines and equipment.  With tighter fuel economy standards now in place, look for more choices for consumer clean diesel cars, such as the Mazda Sky-D powered vehicle in 2012. Look for expanded emphasis on use of a new generation of higher quality renewable diesel fuels in the next five years. Meeting clean air standards is not enough as industry leaders are now turning to increasing vehicle fuel efficiency and hybridization. And new efforts to modernize and upgrade more existing engines and equipment in the coming years may be energized with new federal legislation and funding.

To learn more about the diesel industry, climate change and the environment on Earth Day or any day visit www.dieselforum.org

Brought to you by the leaders in clean diesel technology

Association of Diesel Specialists, BASF Catalysts, BMW Group, BP, BorgWarner, Bosch, Caterpillar, Corning, Cummins, Daimler AG, Delphi Diesel Systems, Donaldson, Eaton, Ford, General Motors, Honeywell, John Deere, Johnson Matthey, MTU Detroit Diesel, Navistar, Tenneco, Umicore, Volkswagen of America, Volvo Group, Western States Petroleum Association.