TTI researchers have completed the first phase of a 3-year, $3 million project for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that is designed to reduce the estimated 500 tons of nitrogen oxides released into the atmosphere each day by emissions from idling trucks.
The project, headed up by Associate Research Engineer Joe Zietsman, has resulted in a nationwide deployment strategy for truck stop electrification (TSE) and a user-friendly web tool that pinpoints ideal locations for this technology. The web tool is located at http://tse.tamu.edu/.
The project identified a total of 15 major truck corridors along the interstate highway system and prioritized potential locations for the idle reduction technology. “We used criteria such as corridor length, major activity centers, truck volume, truck growth rates, non-attainment areas and existing TSE sites,” Zietsman said. “Local and state governments as well as other entities concerned with air quality will be able to use the web tool to identify the best locations to install this emission reduction equipment.”