VANCOUVER, (Aug. 13, 2003) — Cummins Westport Inc. is hoping a partnership with the South Coast Air Quality Management District to develop new engine technology will help the company’s natural gas engines meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2010 emissions standards years ahead of schedule.

The project team will develop and demonstrate a prototype engine based on the application of cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in conjunction with a simple after-treatment system to its current line of lean-burn, spark-ignited, natural gas engines.

Work on the $2 million project — which is in cooperation with the Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory — will be conducted in Columbus, Ind. at the Cummins Technical Center and in Vancouver at Westport’s engine development facility.

If successful, the program could see demonstration engines as early as 2005. The company’s goal is that by 2010, the heavy-duty engines will see reductions in nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) to 0.2 grams per brake horsepower hour, and particulate matter to 0.01 g/bhp-hr. These are reductions of approximately 90 per cent from current standards, the company said.

Cummins Westport, a joint venture of Cummins Inc. and Westport Innovations Inc., develops and markets low-emissions, alternative fuel engines for medium and heavy-duty truck and bus applications.