Express News Service (April 4, 2006) Pune, India: A PILOT project to cut down emission levels of polluting gases in heavy-duty diesel vehicles by up to 90 per cent was launched in the city on Tuesday. The year-long project, which aims to find the feasibility and effectiveness of fitting old diesel vehicles in the city with emission control devices, has been taken up under an agreement between the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Under the pilot project, 20 PMT buses in the city will be retrofitted with particulate filters, oxidation catalyst or diesel particulate traps that will cut down their emission levels by up to 90 per cent. In addition, these buses will be using low sulphur diesel that will further cut down pollution levels. After one year, the results of the study will be analysed to check the feasibility of applying it to a larger number of diesel vehicles.

PMC commissioner Nitin Kareer said the project gained eminence as the CNG conversion process for city buses had been pushed till December 2007, due to procedural problems.

‘‘It may not be possible to convert the entire public transport system to CNG as the costs are very high and some of the buses are very old, which causes safety problems. By using this technology, we can cut down pollution levels of the older buses that cannot be converted to CNG,’’ he said.

‘‘Till the time we get CNG, the retrofit devices can be used to cut pollution levels in our existing fleet,’’ he added.

The data collected during the project will also be used to implement similar projects across Asia. ‘‘The data collected during the project will provide information for its implementation across Asia to reduce emission by heavy duty vehicles,’’ said US Consul General Michael Owen, who inaugurated the project with mayor Rajani Tribhuvan.

The major problems that the project is likely to face is maintenance of the retrofitted vehicles and procurement of low sulphur diesel (which will be initially imported from Germany).

An amount of Rs 2.5 crore has been sanctioned for the project by USAID (United States Agency for International Development) which is also providing technical know-how and support. PMC will provide the manpower, infrastructure and logistical support for the project.

The plan

20 PMT buses, most of them Euro I complaint will be retrofitted with three different kinds of emission control devices. In addition, low sulphur diesel fuel will be used on the buses:

• Diesel Oxidation Filter: For the oldest Euro I buses. To cut down 30 per cent emissions
• Flow through filters: For the relatively newer Euro I buses. To cut emissions by 50 per cent
• Diesel Particulate Trap: For the new Euro II buses. To cut emissions by 90 per cent

Source: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=176676