http://detnews.com:80/2001/autos/0105/22/a01-226651.htm
- 05/21/01
GM pushes diesel revival
Automakers say new engines are cleaner, more fuel efficient
Diesel debate
Here are arguments for and against diesels:
Pro
* Higher fuel economy
* More power and performance
* Lower carbon dioxide emissions
Con
* Causes smog
* Releases soot that causes respiratory ailments
* Exhaust is a possible carcinogen Source: U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency By Jeff Plungis / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- With gasoline prices rising and the fuel-economy
debate heating up, General Motors Corp. is renewing a push to relax
clean-air standards to allow the sale of more diesel-powered
passenger cars and trucks.
GM and other automakers are embracing diesel as pressure grows on
them to improve the fuel economy of their vehicle fleets. Diesel
burns 30 percent more efficiently than gasoline, but gives off more
soot and smog-producing emissions.
While diesel-powered vehicles have never been very popular in the
United States, their use is exploding in Europe and Japan where high
fuel prices make fuel-economy a higher priority than stringent
clean-air rules.
"Most of the world is diesel friendly," said GM Vice-Chairman
Harry Pearce. "The current EPA regulations make it very difficult to
use diesel technology."
Attempts to expand the use of diesel in the American market is
likely to be met with skepticism from consumers and stiff resistance
among environmental groups and health advocates.
Diesel technology has advanced in recent years. Diesels sold in
the 1980s were noisy, sluggish and dirty. Today's diesels are much
improved, with lower emissions and perky but quiet performance.
Nationwide, a gallon of diesel fuel now costs $1.49, while a gallon
of regular unleaded gasoline sells for $1.71.
The automakers have a huge financial stake in diesels. GM and Ford
Motor Co. have spent billions of dollars in recent years developing
cleaner diesels for foreign markets. They also are developing with
partners diesel engines for commercial trucks.
The biggest obstacle to the introduction of powerful,
fuel-efficient diesels are new tailpipe emissions rules that take
effect in 2004. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules reduce
the amount of harmful emissions vehicles can emit while requiring
them to burn cleaner fuels with less sulfur.
But the automakers argue that the rules are too strict in respect
to diesel, which could go far to help them increase the fuel-economy
of their new vehicle fleets. The biggest gains could be for
sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks.
"There has to be some flexibility with respect to the current
regulations and the future proposed regulations," Pearce said.
He said that diesels used in certain applications could be excused
from meeting more stringent requirements with respect to nitrous
oxides, or NOx, and particulates, or soot. NOx can produce smog and
soot and has been linked to lung diseases.
GM chief environmental officer Dennis J. Minano, meeting with
reporters in Washington last week, said the EPA rules restrict the
number of diesel vehicles GM is allowed to build, limits fuel economy
gains and inhibits the reduction of carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse
gas that contributes to global warming.
Under EPA regulations, an automaker's fleet of cars and trucks can
only emit a certain amount of NOx. A manufacturer is free to sell
more-polluting vehicles if those sales are offset by more
cleaner-burning vehicles.
Limited ability to sell
Automakers believe the restrictions will limit their ability to
sell diesel-powered sport-utility vehicles and pickups, a high-profit
segment of the market that would benefit the most from
higher-mileage, more powerful diesel engines.
"If we want to continue to move to increase fuel efficiency, if we
want to continue to address carbon dioxide emissions, we in the
United States should not limit the technology option that can produce
those results cleanly," Minano said.
Volkswagen AG is the only manufacturer that sells passenger
vehicles equipped with diesel engines in the United States. The
diesel-powered Beetle, Golf and Jetta now account for 10 percent of
each models' annual U.S. sales.
The vehicles get 49 mile per gallon on the highway and 42 mpg in
the city, compared with 31 mpg and 24 mpg for their gasoline
counterparts.
Attempts to revise EPA rules would rekindle years of debate about
the health benefits and costs of emissions regulations.
Because diesel engines emit more NOx and soot environmental and
health groups fear relaxed rules would mean more cases of asthma and
lung disease. There are also concerns that diesel exhaust may cause
cancer.
The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that a diesel car
would emit between 16 and 20 times more particulate matter than an
equivalent gasoline-powered car.
"If diesel is the auto industry's answer to our energy woes, we're
all in a lot of trouble," said Jason Mark of the Union of Concerned
Scientists.
Automakers eager to ease restriction on diesel face an uphill
battle with environmentalists, including California regulators, who
have adopted much stricter air quality standards.
The California Air Resources Board prohibits the sale of
higher-polluting vehicles permitted by federal regulations,
essentially precluding the sale of light-duty diesel vehicles in
California. In 1998, the state labeled diesel exhaust a toxic air
contaminant. VW is limited to 3,000 diesel vehicles sales a year in
California.
In unveiling the new emissions rules in December 1999, the Clinton
administration projected the costs of the regulations would add less
than $100 to the price of a new car, less than $200 for a new
light-duty truck, and just two cents per gallon of gas. The EPA says
benefits outweigh projected costs by as much as five-to-one.
The EPA estimated that by 2030, the regulations would prevent
4,300 premature deaths and 10,200 cases of bronchitis each year;
260,000 asthma attacks, and 173,000 cases of respiratory illness,
among children each year. The agency also projected the regulations
would save 683,000 missed workdays and over 5 million days of
restricted activity due to acute respiratory symptoms each year.
"They're trying to take advantage of President Bush's
anti-environmental agenda to threaten the health of our children,"
said Daniel Becker, director of Sierra Club's Global Warming and
Energy Campaign.
Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
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