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Innovative agricultural solutions to improve environment showcased; New technology featured at annual Calif. Biomass Collaborative and the West Coast Collaborative

Release Date: 03/29/2007
Contact Information: Margot Perez-Sullivan, Desk (415) 947-4149, Cell/ 415) 760-9161

(03/28/07 -- SAN FRANCISCO) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s western regional administrators, Wayne Nastri and Elin D. Miller, joined California’s academia, industry and regulators to showcase agriculture’s latest and most innovative pollution reduction technologies.

The event was hosted jointly by the California Biomass Collaborative and the EPA’s West Coast Collaborative.

“Accelerating our clean air progress through innovation and collaboration was the basis for forming the West Coast Collaborative in 2004,” said Nastri, the EPA’s Pacific Southwest administrator. “This agricultural solutions showcase demonstrates that by working with our agricultural partners, we can find creative solutions to improve air quality and public health.”

University of California at Davis hosted the event at the Western Center for Agricultural Equipment, which showcased the university’s biodiesel fleet. Additional highlights included:

· Western United Resource Development, Inc. received $400,000 for its Methane for Milk Trucks project, in which four heavy duty diesel powered milk trucks will be converted to run on methane, ultimately, the trucks will run on upgraded biomethane captured from a Central Valley dairy facility.

· California State University at Fresno’s Agricultural Pumping Efficiency Program received $50,000 to introduce and maintain field efficient hardware for pumping plants, irrigation and water distribution systems.

· John Deere demonstrated clean diesel technologies that meet emissions requirements while improving fuel economy and performance.

· Sustainable Conservation’s Field to Fuel project received $100,000 to test the effectiveness of a new fuel additive in reducing nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from biodiesel use in the San Joaquin Valley, America’s most productive agriculture region.

· Cleaire retrofitted trucks with its Longview and Horizon emissions control systems.

· Sacramento Municipal Utility District hosted a demonstration hydrogen-powered prototype Mercedes-Benz that offers the latest in hydrogen fuel cell technology.

The success of these projects and others in the west has improved national security by increasing energy independence, improving the environment and supporting rural economies.

The West Coast Collaborative, part of the National Clean Diesel Campaign, is a partnership between leaders from federal, state and local government, the private sector and environmental groups in California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Alaska, Idaho, Canada and Mexico.

For more information on the West Coast Collaborative, please visit: http://westcoastcollaborative.org/.

For more information on the California Biomass Collaborative, please visit: http://biomass.ucdavis.edu/.

For more information on the UC Davis Western Agriculture Equipment Center, please visit: http://tractors.ucdavis.edu/WCAE/.
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