A recent editorial in the San Jose Mercury News focused on the pollution from diesel engines and the effect this is having on California's air quality. "When it comes to air pollution from vehicles, it doesn't get more noxious than the soot from diesel engines. The black particles accumulate in people's lungs, contributing to asthma, heart problems and thousands of deaths in California every year.

After more than a year and a half of crafting the language that will constitute the new off-road diesel equipment regulations, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) will meet in Del Mar on May 25 to decide whether to adopt this language which targets what the Mercury calls 'smoke-belching construction equipment - bulldozers, graders and the like - along with other "off-road" vehicles used at airports, ski resorts and warehouses.'

Regulators would have to work with affected industries to find ways to ease the expense of retrofitting or replacing nearly 180,000 vehicles by 2025. Cost estimates run from $3 billion to $13 billion - a sum that could make this the most expensive air regulation in California history, says the Mercury editorial.

The proposed CARB regulations, which have been revised multiple times, require a contractor's diesel engine fleet to meet fleet average emission rate targets for particulate matter (PM). Large and medium fleets (greater than 1,000 horsepower) would also be required to meet fleet average emission rate targets for oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Both targets decline over time, requiring fleets to reduce their emissions even further.

According to these proposed regulations a fleet that is unable to meet the NOx target, would have to turn over more than 10 percent of its fleet per year. Turn over, as defined by CARB, means to re-power with a cleaner engine, replace a vehicle with a new or used vehicle, designate as low-use or decrease fleet size.

"With the current state of air quality in California, these proposed regulations are a move in the right direction," said Bob Carroll, CEO of the Biofriendly Corporation. "NOx emissions are a threat to the health of Californians and cost effective methods of reducing these emissions need to be found and implemented."

Green Plus®, the liquid fuel catalyst produced by Biofriendly is currently in use in Mexico and other countries that aim to reduce NOx emissions. Working at the molecular level to slightly "unbundle" complex hydrocarbon molecule clusters, it enables existing oxygen to reach the fuel and react with the fuel more easily. Improving combustion processes results in a "positive domino effect" - that is, a more complete burn, a more linear burn and a cooler burn. This in turn delivers more power, more torque, better fuel economy and fewer harmful emissions.