CARB Makes Bold Move Toward Zero Emissions
In June, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) unanimously approved the Advanced Clean Truck Regulation. This bold step will accelerate California’s transition to zero-emissions in all commercial fleet sectors. It’s a historic and ambitious goal, and achieving it will be challenging. Here’s what we know.
The Advanced Clean Truck Regulation is a holistic approach to transition away from medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles to electric zero-emissions vehicles beginning in 2024.
The environmental goals are lofty. California faces challenging mandates to reduce air pollutants to protect public health and to meet state climate change targets. The mandates include:
- Meeting certain goals like federal health-based ambient air quality standards.
- Reducing greenhouse gases 40% by 2030, then 80% by 2050.
- Cutting petroleum use in half by 2030.
The regulation’s projected economic benefits are substantial. The state expects to see $8.9 billion in health savings from 2020 to 2040, with $282 million added to state GDP by 2040. It also projects $1.7 billion in avoided carbon dioxide emission and $5.9 billion in industry savings by 2040.
In the coming months, CARB will release complementary regulations. One of these supporting actions will set a new limit on nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. It requires new trucks still operating on fossil fuels to include the most effective exhaust control technology during the transition to electric trucks. Our 0.02g ultra-low NOx propane engine provides that bridge to electric as the technology matures in the medium-duty class.
If you’re not in the Golden State, why should you care? Traditionally, many other states closely monitor California regulations and adopt some version of the same rules and regulations. In fact, 15 states and Washington, D.C., have already signed an MOU to accelerate bus and truck electrification.
The future has never been brighter as we leverage even more of our capabilities company-wide responding to customer demands and solving global challenges. Having deployed more than 25,000 advanced technology vehicles since 2010, ROUSH CleanTech will continue to focus on engineering the cleanest and most innovative technology that will meet today’s and tomorrow’s regulations.
If you need help navigating the transition of your fleet to meet the new Advanced Clean Truck Regulation or have a question, call us at 800.59.ROUSH.
Stay safe and enjoy your summer!
