The Carbon Dioxide-Equivalent Benefits of Reducing Black Carbon Emissions from U.S. Class 8 Trucks Using Diesel Particulate Filters: A Preliminary Analysis

The analysis finds that retrofitting U.S. Class 8 trucks with DPFs provides significant near-term climate benefits by reducing black carbon, a potent warming agent. Using a 'best estimate' 20-year global warming potential (GWP20) of 2,200, the study calculates a net benefit of approximately 2,080 gCO2e per gallon of diesel fuel, even when assuming a conservative 2% fuel penalty. The report concludes that such retrofits are climate-beneficial as long as the fuel penalty remains below 22% (GWP20) or 7% (GWP100). A hypothetical rebuild rule retrofitting nearly one million trucks between 2012 and 2030 would result in a total CO2e reduction of 96 million metric tons (GWP20), equivalent to eliminating the annual emissions of 21 million cars.

• Installing a DPF on a typical pre-2007 U.S. class 8 truck yields a net climate benefit of approximately 2,080 gCO2e per gallon of diesel fuel, assuming a 2 percent fuel penalty and using a GWP20 of 2,200.
• The climate benefit of a single DPF retrofit is equivalent to eliminating the pollution from approximately 6 passenger cars, or alternatively, retrofitting six class 8 trucks offsets the total CO2 and black carbon emissions of one such truck.
• A DPF retrofit remains climate-beneficial as long as the associated fuel penalty (increase in fuel use) is below 22% when using GWP20 or below 7% when using GWP100.
• The net climate benefits from installing a DPF on a class 8 truck are estimated to last for approximately 50 years, assuming a 2 percent fuel penalty.
• A proposed mandatory rebuild rule to retrofit nearly one million U.S. class 8 trucks between 2012 and 2030 would reduce CO2e by 96 million metric tons (GWP20), which equals the annual emissions of 1.8 million class 8 diesel trucks or 21 million cars.
• Evidence from field studies suggests that DPFs may cause no measurable fuel penalty; one study of 20 tractor-trailer trucks and another of 10 NYC transit buses showed results consistent with near-zero penalties.

APA

Hill, L. B. (2009). The Carbon Dioxide-Equivalent Benefits of Reducing Black Carbon Emissions from U.S. Class 8 Trucks Using Diesel Particulate Filters: A Preliminary Analysis. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/21093817/CATF_Pub_Reducing_BC_Emissions_Class8Trucks.pdf

Chicago

Hill, L. Bruce. The Carbon Dioxide-Equivalent Benefits of Reducing Black Carbon Emissions from U.S. Class 8 Trucks Using Diesel Particulate Filters: A Preliminary Analysis. Clean Air Task Force, 2009. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/21093817/CATF_Pub_Reducing_BC_Emissions_Class8Trucks.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hill |first1=L. Bruce |title=The Carbon Dioxide-Equivalent Benefits of Reducing Black Carbon Emissions from U.S. Class 8 Trucks Using Diesel Particulate Filters: A Preliminary Analysis |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=10 September 2009 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/21093817/CATF_Pub_Reducing_BC_Emissions_Class8Trucks.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hill2009carbon, author = {Hill, L. Bruce}, title = {{The Carbon Dioxide-Equivalent Benefits of Reducing Black Carbon Emissions from U.S. Class 8 Trucks Using Diesel Particulate Filters: A Preliminary Analysis}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2009}, month = sep, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/21093817/CATF_Pub_Reducing_BC_Emissions_Class8Trucks.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }