A plant employee works on a school bus battery pack.
PHOTO COURTESY OF LION ELECTRIC COMPANY.
ronmental standards, but also to options provided by different technologies. That’s the approach at Cummins, noted Adam Field,
marketing communications manager for the company’s On-Highway Engine Business segment. “We see EPA’s lat- est NOx regulation as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move ahead along a path to the zero-emissions future we all envision, and are committed to helping our customers reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions,” he said. Field noted that the company’s vision for a ze-
ro-emissions future includes electric vehicles, both battery-powered and fuel-cell electric, as well as internal combustion engines running on net-zero carbon fuels. “We continuously work to develop and improve our
diesel products as the regulatory environment changes,” Field said. “These, along with the fuel agnostic platforms, allow Cummins to provide solutions that support our cus- tomer’s ESG goals now and for the foreseeable future.” At Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA), the ex-
pectation is for a decade or more of continued diesel production. As recently reported in STN, company CEO John O’Leary indicated he expects the demand for diesel engines to continue through much of the 2030s, at least in some areas. For the immediate future, DTNA’s primary tech
pathway to meeting the 2024 standards is through its recently introduced Detroit Gen 5 engines, but the focus is on big-bore trucks and not school buses. “Detroit and DTNA have a long history of early certification for prior
44 School Transportation News • AUGUST 2023
standards, and we expect to continue that tradition,” said a DTNA spokesperson.
Considering Alternative Fuels Advances in the use of other fuels such as propane
also offer potential. Todd Mouw, executive vice presi- dent of sales and marketing for propane autogas system provider ROUSH CleanTech, pointed out that with an abundant supply of propane available (30 billion gallons annually, with only about one-third used domestically), propane offers school districts a promising alternative for cost savings over time. “The savings vary slightly based on location, but a
good average savings of running propane versus diesel is about $4,000 per year per bus,” he said. “And that does not account for any major repairs connected to the in- creasing complexity of diesel engines.” One possibility to anticipate in the future is a renew- able dimethyl ether (DME) blend with both traditional propane and renewable propane, which is something the industry continues to evaluate, Mouw said. What remains to be seen is how much further the carbon intensity can be reduced while not compromising any of the commercial performance or durability benefits of propane. However, DME is currently only used sparingly in some over-the-road trucks and in trains. “Ultimately, the carbon intensity of renewable pro- pane as compared to the carbon index of the electric grid is very favorable,” Mouw added. “So we’re confident
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