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North Carolina Solar Center Receives Southeast Diesel Collaborative Leadership Award

Release Date: 05/26/2010
Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

(Atlanta, Ga. – May 26, 2010) — Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Air, Pesticides, Toxics Management Division Director Ken Lapierre, on behalf of the Southeast Diesel Collaborative (SEDC), presented the North Carolina Solar Center at North Carolina State University with the Leadership Award at the Mobilizing North Carolina Conference in Raleigh, NC. This is the second year the SEDC Leadership Council has presented the Leadership Award to recognize exemplary projects in emissions reductions throughout southeast.

“EPA is proud to recognize the efforts of the North Carolina Solar Center to improve air quality and protect public health,” said Ken Lapierre. “Emissions from diesel engines are a serious public health threat and environmental challenge, reducing these emissions is a priority for EPA.”

The Center was recognized for demonstrating exemplary leadership through the implementation of a subaward program to reduce transportation related emissions. With $1.6 million, the Center was able to fund 17 out of 30 diesel emission reduction projects. The project results include:

        · 11 refueling stations (biodiesel, ethanol and natural gas)
        · 5 HD hybrid electric vehicles
        · 72 Diesel retrofits
        · 24 Truck stop electrification

Project partners include: Triangle Transit, Piedmont Biofuels, Charlotte Airport, Rowan County School District, Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation, Metrolina, Piedmont Biofuels and Piedmont Natural Gas, Cities of Monroe, Greensboro and Gastonia, Duke Energy, Smoky Mountain National Park and Friends of Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Progress Energy and World Energy.
    The Southeast Diesel Collaborative is a partnership composed of leaders from federal, state and local government, the private sector and other stakeholders in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The goal of the collaborative is to improve air quality by encouraging the use of clean, renewable energy and by reducing diesel emissions from existing engines and equipment from the agriculture, heavy construction and on-road sectors.

    The Southeast Diesel Collaborative is part of EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign, a program combining regulatory measures with voluntary initiatives to reduce the pollution emitted from diesel engines across the country. Visit the Southeast Diesel Collaborative at
    http://www.southeastdiesel.org and the National Clean Diesel Campaign at: https://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel.