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 With the New Fuels Technology Impacts project, NREL's Center for Transportation Technologies and Systems works to investigate emerging energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Researchers try to ensure that these new technologies mitigate environmental and climate change concerns rather than add to them.
E55 Study
NREL is working with the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board (CRC), South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), and the Coordinating Research Council to develop new and improved heavy-duty vehicle emission factors for particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen. Twenty-five heavy-duty vehicles were tested in June 2002; phases 2 and 3 will test 50 more vehicles.
Weekday/Weekend Differences in Pollutant Concentration in Different U.S. Locations
DOE scientists, together with the Coordinating Research Council, are conducting analyses of ambient air quality data in the Northeast, Chicago/Lake Michigan, Atlanta, Houston/Gulf Coast, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, and Phoenix areas to quantify changes in emissions on weekends that lead to elevated weekend ozone levels throughout the United States This project will provide information regarding the most effective and least costly means of reducing ambient ozone levels in urban areas.
Sources of Ambient Particulate Matter in Three Cities
DOE's Gasoline/Diesel PM Split Study was completed in FY 2003. The data acquired from this project can be used, along with ambient sampling from three urban areas, to apportion ambient PM to gasoline and diesel vehicles. The proposed locations for this study are Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Houston. This study quantified the relative importance of emissions from gasoline and diesel vehicles on air quality in these three areas. More support is anticipated from CRC and possibly government agencies.
Weekend Ozone in Three Cities
Upon completion of DOE's Weekend Ozone study in Los Angeles, additional work is needed in three additional U.S. urban areas to determine whether those cities are hydrocarbon or NOx limited with respect to ozone formation. NREL recommends that the three cities be Washington, DC, Atlanta, and Houston. The data obtained from this study will provide information regarding the most effective and least costly means to reduce ozone in urban areas. Additional support is anticipated from CRC and possibly government agencies.
Emissions from New Fuels
The objective of this project is to develop a project plan for FY 2004-2008 that describes how the environmental impacts activity of DOE can contribute to a government/industry cooperative study of the potential effects of new fuels and combustion systems on the environment and public health. During FY 2004-FY 2008, DOE plans to develop advanced internal combustion engines (ICEs) that can use liquid fuels derived from renewable resources. The potential effects of such fuels and technologies on the environment and public health need to be understood.
Off-Road Equipment Emission Measurements
The objective of this project is to develop methods for measuring emissions from off-road vehicles that are of interest to DOE. EPA has targeted emissions from off-road vehicles as the next major area of emissions regulation from mobile sources. However, there are no accepted methods for measuring emissions from that equipment under the widely varying uses and use cycles employed. This will be a collaboratively funded effort with EPA and other agencies and industry groups.
For more information, see our Publications page.
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