The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection awarded more than $3.4 million in 2020 Alternative Fuel Incentive Grants to 20 cleaner fuel transportation projects statewide that will help improve air quality and public health, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change.
Waste Management of Pennsylvania received $200,000 to purchase eight CNG garbage trucks that serve Bucks, Lackawanna and Montgomery counties.
“These grants help cities, counties, school districts, colleges, as well as delivery, trash hauling, and other companies across Pennsylvania that want to be proactive in reducing air pollution from transportation,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “Their projects will help Pennsylvanians breathe cleaner air at school, in their communities and at their workplaces.”
The AFIG Program funds projects that replace older gasoline- or diesel-fueled vehicles with cleaner fuel vehicles to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide, a principal greenhouse gas.
The program supports electric, ethanol, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, propane gas, and other cleaner fuel vehicles. It also supports installation of fueling stations for these vehicles.
Transportation generates 47 percent of nitrogen oxides emissions in Pennsylvania, contributing to the formation of ground-level ozone. This affects the health of children; older people; people with lung diseases, such as asthma and emphysema; and those who work or are active outdoors. The state Department of Health has found that asthma-related emergency room visits increase when air quality is poor.
Vehicles release 21 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the state, contributing to climate change.
The 2020 AFIG funded projects will put 209 cleaner fuel school buses, garbage trucks, package delivery trucks, and other vehicles in use. Collectively, the projects are anticipated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 900 metric tons per year.
