Transportation's Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions ...

Transportations Role in Reducing U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Volume 2
Combined Per-vehicle Benefits
Estimates have been developed for the per vehicle fuel consumption and GHG reduction
potential from broad adoption of several of the above technologies on a Class 8 truck,
ranging from 12 to 20 percent (Muster, 2000; 21st Century Truck Program, 2009; Frey and
Kuo, 2007; Vyas et al., 2002; Lovins et al., 2005). 51
Table 3.3A Aerodynamic and Resistance Reduction Technologies
Packaged for Near-Term Analysis
3-66
Certain aerodynamic and resistance
reduction strategies are available for retrofit under a near-term scenario, similar to the
options considered by California CARB for its recent HDV rulemaking (CARB, 2008a).
These strategies may be implemented relatively quickly, since they do not rely on OEM
implementation and fleet turnover in order to obtain significant market penetration. The
package of strategies considered for the near-term benefit evaluation is described below in
Table 3.3A. Additional aerodynamic and resistance reduction strategies are considered in
tandem with powertrain measures for the medium to long term in the following section.
Technology
Near-term • Low-rolling resistance (single-wide) tires
• Planar boat tails
• Front fairings
• Trailer side skirts
• Fuel tank skirts
• Aluminum wheels
As applied to a fleet average Class 8b diesel truck in 2010, the above combinations of
technologies are estimated to provide a 10 to 15 percent reduction in fuel consumption
over the AEO Reference case for highway operation in the near term, as shown in
Table 3.3B (Frey and Kuo, 2007; TIAX, 2008; CARB, 2008a; Vyas et al., 2002;
NESCCAF/ICCT, 2009). Unlike LDVs, the most appropriate way to measure the
efficiency of HDVs is usually in terms of fuel use per unit of work performed – e.g. tonmiles
hauled or horsepower-hours per gallon. Although a simple miles per gallon metric
is utilized here for consistency with other sections, it provides a somewhat crude and
imprecise measure of efficiency for these sources.
51 Analysis accounts for mutually exclusive options such as low rolling resistance and single-wide
tires.