EPA Expands SmartWay Transport Partnership with Biofuels Program
26 October 2006
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched the SmartWay Grow & Go program, an expansion of the SmartWay Transport Partnership that encourages companies to make commitments toward improving the environment through the use of renewable fuels.
The goal of the SmartWay Grow & Go program is to have 25% of EPA’s SmartWay Transport partners using renewable fuels by 2012, and 50% by 2020. There are currently 481 SmartWay Transport partners including major truck and rail carriers as well as shipping and logistics companies.
The SmartWay Transport Partnership is a voluntary program launched in February 2004 that emphasizes accelerated deployment of innovative technology by rail and heavy-duty fleets. The goal of the program is to achieve annual reductions, by 2012, of 33 to 66 million metric tons of CO2 emissions and up to 200,000 tons of NOx emissions. (Earlier post.)
Through SmartWay Grow & Go, EPA and its partners will expand technical information about renewable fuels and increase public awareness of their environmental benefits. In addition, EPA will work with its federal partners and others to clarify and streamline the regulatory framework to remove barriers to the increased use of quality renewable fuels.
Seems like a few incentives to offset costs might be nice. The U.S. can forgive $7 billion in Gulf oil royalties, but nothing for any of this.
Posted by: SJC | 28 October 2006 at 11:02 AM