EcoPedia

Diesel School Buses

Michael Forlini | Jul 28, 2008

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According to EPA’s Web site, 24 million American children ride school buses daily. On an average, these students spend an hour and a half each day in a school bus. School buses drive more than 4 billion miles each year. The goal of EPA’s “Clean School Bus USA” is to reduce both children's exposure to diesel exhaust and the amount of air pollution created by diesel school buses."

Diesel exhaust contains significant levels of small particles, known as fine particulate matter. Fine particles are so small that several thousand of them could fit on the period at the end of this sentence. These fine particles pose a significant health risk because they can pass through the nose and throat and lodge themselves in the lungs and can result in lung damage and premature death. They can also aggravate conditions such as asthma and bronchitis. EPA has determined that diesel exhaust is a likely human carcinogen. It is important to add, that diesel exhaust also contains pollutants that contribute to ozone formation (or smog), acid rain and global climate change. Diesel oxidation catalysts are devices that use a chemical process to break down pollutants in the exhaust stream into less harmful components. Diesel oxidation catalysts can reduce emissions of particulate matter (PM) by 20 percent, hydrocarbons (HC) by 50 percent and carbon monoxide (CO) by approximately 40 percent. Oxidation catalysts cost about $600 to $2,000, can be installed on any new or used bus, and run on regular diesel fuel. Although installation time can vary, field experience suggests it takes about 1 to 3 hours to install an oxidation catalyst. More information: National Clean Diesel Campaign