State of Maryland awards $2M grant to speed up transition to clean fuels
The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has approved $2.1 million in funding for five private businesses to convert their vehicle fleets to cleaner alternative fuels as part of the settlement of the Volkswagen (VW) “defeat devices” case. Existing diesel powered vehicles will be replaced with new vehicles that use clean alternative fuels like CNG.
In addition to the funds from the VW settlement, the businesses will spend about $5.2 million of their own money on the new vehicles for a total project cost of $7.3 million. The projects will improve air quality and provide health benefits through reduced vehicle emissions. Use of the cleaner vehicles will cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change and also eliminate an estimated 60 tons of NOx that cause smog pollution. In addition to NOx reductions, the program will achieve more than 1,600 tons in reductions of CO2.
The alternative fuel vehicle project proposals include $800,000 to Waste Management for 20 CNG-powered trash haulers. “This is a partnership to boost environmental health and private sector action for a cleaner and greener future,” said Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles. “We’ll continue to focus on fleet modernization to drive climate progress.”
From 2009 through 2015, certain diesel-powered Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche vehicles were equipped with illegal “defeat devices.” The devices allowed cars to meet emissions standards in a laboratory or a testing station, but during normal operation the vehicles emitted NOx up to 40 times above federal standards. About 16,000 of the illegal vehicles were sold in Maryland.
In February, MDE, in coordination with Maryland Energy Administration and Maryland Department of Transportation, developed a spending plan to invest more than $75 million the state received under a settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and VW in transportation strategies and projects to improve the quality of the air that Marylanders breathe. The plan puts a priority on the replacement of old, dirty diesel engines with new, cleaner technologies.
While the plan focuses on ways that Maryland can reduce NOx emissions, Maryland will also experience significant co-benefits for the environment. These include reductions in particle pollution from diesel engines, reductions in emissions of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, and reductions in pollution from volatile organic compounds.
