History (Page 2 of 2)

In 2005, the Texas Legislature assigned TERC an important new duty closely related to its original research mission – management of the state’s New Technology Research and Development Program (NTRD). The annual budget was $9 million. NTRD was launched by lawmakers in 2001 in the same bill that created TERP. The two efforts are complementary. With funds from fees and surcharges, TERP provides incentive grants in a voluntary program aimed a reducing emissions of ozone-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx), from diesel engine vehicles and equipment in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas. NTRD awards grants to facilitate the development, verification and certification of new NOx-reducing technologies so they may be broadly and economically used to minimize this ozone-causing pollutant.

In the 2006-07 biennium TERC supported $5.5 million worth of projects in the far-reaching Texas Air Quality Study II conducted in 20005-06. TERC’s research advanced useful scientific knowledge in numerous ways to support development of federally mandated State Implementation Plans (SIPs). They included key SIP elements, improved ozone modeling, enhanced emissions inventories used in computer models, and identification of pollutants of special concern.

TERC sponsored an array of projects that foster innovative NOx-cutting technologies for diesel engines. With the projects that were approved through early 2008, under TERC management, NTRD has launched 40 such initiatives, with funding that totaled $19.2 million. All of these projects are squarely aimed at developing, verifying, and certifying technologies so they can be rapidly commercialized and start reducing ozone-forming NOx emissions as soon as possible. Earlier NTRD projects were largely focused on relatively easier goals – technologies targeting emissions that might be called “low-hanging fruit.” Tougher challenges now confront the state’s efforts to achieve still more NOx reductions, and NTRD’s focus has shifted accordingly from projects for retrofitting old diesel engines to projects to develop advanced diesel technologies.

TERC’s research efforts are being cited in an increasing number of scientific journals, as well as by the EPA. Such citations validate the approach TERC uses to select, manage, peer-review and publish its research results. This process is important not only to TERC, but also to TCEQ as it incorporates the findings in ozone-reducing SIPs presented to the EPA. Another valuable aspect of this process is the sharing of information among various state and federal agencies as TERC seeks to leverage its resources for maximum benefit.

In 2008 EPA initiated an Emerging Technology Program. By 2009 over 70% of the technologies on this list were from TERC initiated NTRD projects. The technologies on EPA’s list are on a fast track for verification/certification as EPA-approved NOx reducing technologies.