The Environmental Protection Agency in the US has announced grants totalling $1.4 million for projects to reduce diesel emissions in California, Oregon and Washington.

Of that money, $211,000 will be awarded to Cleaire Advanced Emission Controls to develop a demonstration project that will lower emissions from heavy construction equipment.

The programme will see five pieces of heavy construction equipment retrofitted with emission-reduction technology, so that they can be evaluated to see how effective the technology is at lowering emissions.

Those at Cleaire believe that the new technology can reduce particulate matter (PM) emissions by as much as 85 per cent, while also lowering carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions by up to 90 per cent.

It is hoped that the project can eventually have a significant impact on emissions in California, as the construction sector is currently the biggest producer of emissions in the state.

"Our California-based companies are committed to developing retrofit technologies that make it possible for 'in-use' diesel engines to achieve dramatically lower emission levels," commented Kevin Shanahan, president and chief executive of Cleaire.


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