Greenhouse Gas & Fuel Efficiency Standards: Dec. 10-11 Technical Workshop

The EPA and NHTSA are sponsoring a technical workshop to be held December 10 and 11, 2014, at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) facilities in San Antonio, Texas. According to the notice, SwRI researchers will present technical work that has been completed to support the development of future medium and heavy duty GHG and fuel efficiency standards. “This technical work includes testing conducted [on] over-the-road and on heavy duty chassis dynamometers, powertrain test cells, and engine test cells. This work has been conducted to advance test procedure development and validate refinements that agencies have been considering for the greenhouse gas emissions model (GEM) used for heavy-duty vehicle certification. Aerodynamic tractor testing via both coast-down and constant-speed test procedures will also be presented, in addition to results from recent heavy-duty engine and vehicle technology modeling. SwRI will also describe simulation studies to look at the potential fuel saving performance of numerous MD/HD engine and vehicle technologies.”

The notice clarifies that the workshop will NOT address policy considerations, such as stringency levels or program structure. “Rather, this workshop is an opportunity for interested stakeholders and individuals to learn more about recent EPA and NHTSA sponsored technical research, to engage directly with the SwRI researchers who have been conducting this work, and to provide initial feedback on work conducted to date.” The workshop is open to all interested persons and there is no registration fee. To view the agenda for the meeting and read find out more about the workshop, visit the following links:

• http://epa.gov/otaq/climate/documents/swri-workshop-agenda-11-04-14.pdf;
• http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-11-21/pdf/2014-27638.pdf.