March 17, 2008
The Philadelphia Diesel Difference - Working Group Meeting
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC)
190 North Independence Mall West,
8th Floor,
Philadelphia, PA 19106
IN ATTENDANCE:
Ken Brown, University of Pennsylvania
Francine Carlini, PA Department of Environmental Protection
Ed Carreras, BIO LLC
Eric Cheung, Clean Air Council
Fred Cummings, City of Philadelphia Division of Aviation
Tom Feeley, Green Building Solutions and Supplies
Simon Hauger, West Philadelphia Academy for Mechanical and Automotive Engineering
Darlene Heep, City of Philadelphia Law Department
Tom Holl, Ransome CAT
Thomas Huynh, City of Philadelphia, Air Management Services
Karl Ingram
Lisa Magee, Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
Mike McClurkin, MDM Management Consulting
Robert Neff, PA Turnpike Commission
Alison Riley, City of Philadelphia, Air Management Services
Jack Schweitzer, Amtrak
Dan Snowden, PennDOT
Maurice Williams, Philadelphia Academies, Inc.
Barbara Wilson, Krapf Bus Co.
Dennis R. Winters, Philadelphia Clean Cities
MINUTES TAKEN BY:
Eric Cheung
INTRODUCTIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS
Alison announced that the DERA RFP came out last Friday. U.S. EPA Region 3 is offering $3.1 million for projects involving clean diesel technologies. Alison has already met with the city fleet and SEPTA for possible projects. She asked the group for any more ideas.
The Sustainable Skylines initiative is on hold until an RFP is issued that the City and its partners can apply for. The City continues to look for NOx reduction credits. Its biodiesel project using state AFIG funding is underway. The first shipment of biodiesel is being used. The City hopes to publicize its use of this fuel soon, perhaps with the use of decals.
The Mayor’s office is compiling statistics from each of its units in order to assess the quality of City services. The program is called PhillyStat and PDD will be included. The City will be hiring a Sustainability Director, although there is no information as to when this will take place. In addition, Alison is not aware of any City-sponsored Earth Day event this year. Unfortunately this year’s primary election is overshadowing Earth Day as they will take place on the same day. There will be a city-wide “Clean Up” day on April 5.
Dan Snowden has put together materials explaining Philadelphia’s proposed clean diesel procurement policy and has sent it to the appropriate representatives at PennDOT. Dan is hoping to get PennDOT’s approval of the policy. Alison noted that she moderated a Mid-Atlantic Diesel Collaborative (MDC) Urban Fleets call on hydraulic hybrids. The presentation is up on the MDC’s website.
Alison reported that the new federal health standard for ozone has been set at .075 parts per million. National Public Health Week is coming up and Alison will be providing information on climate change at the City’s health centers. She is looking for materials to distribute to residents to educate people on how to be green and energy-efficient. Finally, she noted that the City has retrofitted a total of 15 fire trucks and 10 waste haulers.
Dennis Winters observed that environmentalists are not happy with the new ozone standard, because it could have been more stringent. Environmentalists, however, are happy with U.S. EPA’s new marine diesel engines rule.
PHILADELPHIA DIESEL DIFFERENCE ACTIVITIES UPDATE:
Eric said that a survey of clean diesel projects was sent out to all PDD stakeholders. In addition the PDD Charter was distributed to the email list to see if any new groups wanted to sign on. He added that he is working on evaluating emissions from fleets that have already completed clean diesel projects in order to assist the City and State in getting their Ozone Attainment State Implementation Plan approved by the U.S. EPA. Eric stated that PDD has six fleets it has recognized over the years and that he is running the port equipment retrofit projects at Packer and Tioga through U.S. EPA’s Diesel Emissions Quantifier program in order to measure their impact.
Eric further reported that he is working on a mailing to universities to see if any of them have completed clean diesel projects and if any of them are willing to join PDD’s list of fleets committed to diesel retrofits. He will send a similar mailing to a list of a couple hundred Philadelphia heavy duty fleets. Eric submitted comments on PADEP’s forthcoming state-wide anti-idling regulation. He also sent the Inquirer a Letter To The Editor clarifying a misconception they reported in an article that diesel vehicles had to be retrofitted in order to be able to use ultra low sulfur diesel. He will be attending the next green airport air quality subcommittee meeting in April.
Eric mentioned that he attended the Goods Jobs Green Jobs Conference in Pittsburgh, which was spearheaded by the Sierra Club and The United Steelworker’s Blue Green Alliance. He noted that there was some tension among the participants concerning the topic of coal. He also said that U.S. Public Interest Research Group presented on their new report “A Better Way To Go,” which calls for improvements in public transit. Lastly, Eric mentioned two upcoming Clean Air Council events for those who are interested: the 27th Annual 5K Run For Clean Air (April 19) and the Future of Coal Conference in Harrisburg (April 23 – 24).
COMMITTEE UPDATES:
Eric said the Port Environmental Task Force held a quarterly meeting earlier this month. Drexel University is considering doing work at the ports to monitor air quality. Packer Terminal wants to implement a storm water management program at its facilities. There was some discussion at the Task Force meeting about enforcement money being collected by the U.S. Attorney’s office for the illegal dumping of bunker fuel into the ocean by international vessels. This enforcement money potentially could be used to support clean diesel projects at the Port.
GRANT UPDATES:
Eric reminded everyone that U.S. EPA Region 3 announced the availability of Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) funding. Alison and Eric met to discuss possible projects for submission. Dan Snowden added that PennDOT may also apply for this funding. Eric participated in a U.S. EPA conference call last money providing more information about DERA funding. According to Eric, there will be three more funding opportunities this year besides the current one that is geared towards the implementation of proven clean diesel technologies.
ONE MINUTE UPDATES:
Darleen Heep inquired as to what kinds of projects could result in NOx reductions. Alison replied that projects involving Selective Catalytic Reduction, fuel efficiency or idling reduction can decrease NOx emissions. Darlene also asked if PDD can join in a petition to U.S. EPA to strengthen its new ozone standards. Eric answered that individual members of PDD can take action, but it is more complicated for the Working Group as a whole to respond, because regulating agencies are part of PDD.
Christine Knapp noted that the Apollo Alliance released a new report on developing “green collar” jobs in American cities.
Barbara Wilson reported that Krapf Bus Company is running biodiesel in seven school bus fleets in Chester County.
Fred Cummings stated that the Airport will be celebrating Earth Day on April 22 near the food court.
Thomas Huynh explained that with the new ozone standard, he expects to have a substantial increase in exceedences. The City is considering new strategies for reducing emissions. He also told the group that Drexel University is holding a conference on global warming April 22.
Francine Carlini reported that Arleen Shulman is the new Division Chief of Air Resource Management, replacing Wick Havens. She is unsure what is going to happen in the Mobile Sources Section that Arleen used to head.
Dan Snowden reiterated that proposed procurement language concerning clean diesel has been forwarded to the Deputy Secretary of the Highway Administration in PennDOT and he is waiting to hear the response. Darleen commented that the bidding process for the South Street bridge project will be starting soon and the City would like the clean diesel language in place beforehand.
Lisa McGee said she is working with Packer Terminal on implementing a storm water management program. She also observed that the proposal to build a biodiesel plant at the ports has been withdrawn.
Robert Neff of the PA Turnpike Commission said that with 40 new vehicles coming online soon, the oldest trucks in its fleet will be 2000.
Mike McClurkin, who formerly managed the PA Turnpike Commission’s fleet, introduced himself explaining that he now does consulting. Currently he is working on establishing an E85 ethanol fueling corridor in Pennsylvania. He said an ethanol plant in Clearfield County is opening up. He expressed concern that the Philadelphia E85 fueling station is underused. According to Mike, E85 fuel costs about $.50 less per gallon due to the availability to fuel suppliers of government grants.
MONTHLY PRESENTATION:
Maurice Williams, Program Director at the Philadelphia Academies, Inc. provided background information on this month’s presentation. Maurice explained that Philadelphia Academies, Inc., is a nonprofit intermediary between the Philadelphia School District and the business community. Formed in 1969, Philadelphia Academies Inc. manages a $2.6 million budget. The West Philadelphia High School Academy for Mechanical and Automotive Engineering is one of their programs. Maurice then introduced Simon Hauger, an instructor at the Automotive Academy, to discuss his team’s work with hybrid electronic technologies.
Simon and four of his students gave a presentation on the West Philadelphia Hybrid X Team that is looking to win the Progressive Automotive X PRIZE. The PRIZE challenges participants to develop “super-efficient vehicles.” West Philadelphia Automotive Academy’s first foray into advanced technology vehicles began in 1999 when its Electric Vehicle team converted a Jeep Wrangler into an electric vehicle. In 2002 it won the Tour de Sol with a Saturn vehicle that it converted to run on electric power.
The Automotive Academy’s next project was to make a hybrid electric vehicle that could be deemed “cool.” The result was the Hybrid K1 Attack, a sports car which runs on electric power and biodiesel. It gets 60 miles per gallon and can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in five seconds. The Hybrid K1 Attack won the Tour de Sol in both 2005 and 2006, competing against even some university teams, and garnered attention from national media. Simon will be on the Today show on Thursday and the K1 Attack will be featured at the upcoming New York Auto Show.
West Philadelphia Automotive Academy’s next objective is for its Hybrid X Team to win the X PRIZE by designing an urban vehicle that achieves 100 miles per gallon. The planned vehicle will be a hybrid electric diesel and will most likely be based on a Toyota model chassis. Drexel University College of Business is helping the Team to develop a business plan. Simon said he is looking for financial sponsorships.
The West Philadelphia Hybrid X Team wants to develop a hybrid electric car that can compete in the marketplace with other passenger cars. It needs to be safe for people to drive in everyday situations. Simon added that the vehicle will use plug-in technology and B100 biodiesel fuel.
Maurice pointed out that West Philadelphia Automotive Academy had won the Tour de Sol with a $20,000 budget while competing against teams that had million dollar budgets.
NEXT MEETING AND LOCATION:
The next meeting will be held April 21, 2008.
