Project Green Fleet is a collaborative effort among business, government agencies and non-profit organizations to improve air quality and protect health by reducing emissions from Minnesota’s school buses and other diesel vehicles. Diesel exhaust contains a variety of pollutants, which contribute to the formation of ground level ozone, or smog. These pollutants also can hurt our health, increasing the risk of heart and lung disease and are triggers for upper respiratory problems, such as asthma.

Project Green Fleet helps school districts, privately owned school bus fleets, heavy-duty fleets and other diesel fleet owners reduce emissions in many ways:

Retrofits
Project Green Fleet works with equipment manufacturers and installers to install two pieces of pollution control equipment on diesel vehicles. This equipment includes a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and a closed-crankcase filtration system (CCFS). These two pieces of equipment are cost-effective and if combined can reduce diesel exhaust by up to 50%. Over 1,200 school buses and 80 heavy-duty diesel vehicles, including snowplows and dump trucks, have been retrofitted in Minnesota since 2005.

Repowers
Project Green Fleet works with equipment manufacturers and installers to replace old or original engines with a new, cleaner running engine. Project Green Fleet partnered with Aggregate Industries in 2008 to repower heavy-duty diesel equipment operating at port facilities in Saint Paul. More of this worked is planned for 2009 and 2010.

Idle-Reduction Technologies
When school buses or other diesel vehicles idle, the air in and around the vehicle becomes polluted. Project Green Fleet is working to implement a series of idle reduction strategies including the installation of auxiliary power units and fuel operated heaters to dramatically reduce the amount of time vehicles idle.

Click here or contact Emily Franklin at 612-334-3388 x114 or efranklin@mn-ei.org to learn more or get started.

Diesel emission reduction strategies are provided to participating fleets at little to no cost thanks to Project Green Fleet’s many sponsors.