New funding offered for clean truck tech and fuels to reduce diesel exhaust’s impacts

In New York, the NYC Department of Transportation and Empire Clean Cities, NY Senator Alessandra Biaggi, and other city officials and business leaders addressed the environmental injustice of bad air quality and attendant respiratory health problems arising from diesel exhaust and discussed remedies including fuels to replace diesel, such as renewable natural gas (RNG) made from organic waste.

At a recent webinar sponsored by the non-profit Energy Vision, they also discussed remedies, including clean truck technologies and fuels that can replace diesel, such as renewable natural gas (RNG) made from organic waste, which virtually eliminates health-damaging pollutants and is the lowest carbon fuel available today.

And they reviewed new funding and financing programs to help fleets transition away from diesel, such as the just-launched NYC Clean Trucks program, and Clean Energy Fuel’s Zero Now program.

They offered information on replacing diesel trucks with clean trucks in the South Bronx.  Susan McSherry, Director of the Alternative Fuels Program for the New York City Department of Transportation, detailed renewed grant funding available under the NYC Clean Trucks program. Eligible applicants can receive rebates from $12,000 up to $185,000 per truck for retiring old diesel vehicles and replacing them with those using the newest cleanest technology. New truck offerings include battery electric, zero emission vehicles, compressed natural gas with diesel-electric or plug in hybrid diesel.

In addition to public funding sources, Clean Energy, the leading provider of natural gas fuel for transportation launched its Zero Now program to provide financing to help fleet owners convert to renewable natural gas. “The company is offering up to $40,000 toward purchase of ultra-clean natural gas trucks – both medium- and heavy-duty – powered by renewable natural gas fuel,” said Mark Riley, Clean Energy’s Vice President for Canada and the Eastern US.  “It also offers exclusive truck pricing, and a five-year fuel cost certainty through either discounts or indexed offer of diesel fuel.”  Last year in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the South Bronx, Clean Energy opened the first natural gas vehicle fueling station in New York City to sell RNG exclusively.