Diesel Exhaust Pollution
* Re “Dirty Exhaust: America’s Costly Reliance on Diesel,” May 30-31: The diesel engine is the heart of California’s vast transportation network and we simply cannot live without it. Most of the pollutants that are emitted by diesels can be traced to engines that are very old and not properly maintained. The Air Resources Board needs to come down on this type of older and inefficient diesel engine that is still in use.
The newer and more modern diesels have much lower emissions than their predecessors and the technology is being developed to further clean up these engines. Cancer-causing particulate matter from diesel exhaust is something that is not going to go away overnight. It will take many years until the older trucks are off the road, but that’s just heavy-duty trucks. Ships, trains and off-highway diesel exhaust sources do not have to comply with any emission requirements and they contribute significantly to the problem.
Air pollution is something that goes with living in a highly industrialized society. We need to find a solution that is acceptable to people on both sides of the debate.
C.J. PUGLIESE
Rancho Santa Margarita
* Your May 31 article reported that a diesel engine cannot run using a catalytic converter. A portion of L.A.’s MTA buses already use catalytic converters. The EPA offers a retrofit/rebuild certification program for transit buses that install a catalytic converter and use a 20% blend of a biological fuel commonly known as “biodiesel.”
Rudolph Diesel’s original invention actually ran on peanut oil. It’s important to recognize that the diesel engine isn’t the culprit. It’s the petroleum-based fuel. All diesel engines can operate without internal modifications on pure biodiesel or biodiesel blended with petroleum diesel. Biodiesel is derived from renewable, biodegradable feed stocks, including vegetable oils, animal tallow and recycled cooking oils. Your article also stated that conversions would be expensive. Not necessarily so. A recent study concluded that the federal government could save approximately 29% ($10 million annually) by using biodiesel.
WES KELLEY, Vice President
Biodiesel Development Corp.
Irvine
