Blue Bird is providing the cleanest propane engine available for school buses on the market, with this version being 90% cleaner than the current emissions standard and 10 times cleaner than any non-Blue Bird propane school bus option available today.

Blue Bird’s Vision Propane buses now offer an optional ultra-low NO_x engine—developed in partnership with Roush CleanTech, and certified by both the EPA and California Air Resources Board at 0.02 g/bhp-hr—a new version of the Ford 6.8 HD-OBD LPG with Ultra Low NO_x 0.02 emission designation.

A school district can operate 100 buses with the 0.02 NO_x engines and emit less NO_x emissions than one diesel bus manufactured before 2007.

—Todd Mouw, president of ROUSH CleanTech

Last year, Blue Bird released the first 0.05 g/bhp-hr NO_x Ford 6.8L engine in the Vision Propane buses, which at the time operated with the lowest NO_x levels of any engine in Class 4-7 vehicles on the market.

CARB has further encouraged engine manufacturers to reduce levels below the current mandatory EPA standard of 0.2 grams per brake horsepower hour. Reaching lower emission reduction levels allows districts more opportunities for securing green-initiative grants as well as providing higher levels of funding based on the ultra-low levels of NO_x.

The option of Ultra Low NO_x opens more doors for additional grant incentives, as well as higher levels of funding, including those from the VW Settlement.

With the added bonus of federal and local rebates and incentives for alternative fuels, districts are saving up to $3,500 per bus annually on fuel and maintenance costs.

Over the past year, NO_x has received attention because of Volkswagen’s emissions settlement. The automaker’s $2.9-billion Environmental Mitigation Trust will fund actions that specifically reduce excess NO_x emissions and states are including alternative fueled school buses in their funding models.