The Carmel Clay School District (CCSD) has received a $50,000 grant from the Indiana Office of Energy Development and U.S. Department of Energy, which will help increase the number of LPG-powered school buses in its fleet and reduce the harmful impact diesel emissions have on student health.

That grant will go toward the purchase of new Autogas school buses that will replace old diesel vehicles. Once the process is complete, the district will have 14 Autogas school buses, several manufactured by Blue Bird.

According to Gabe Filipelli, a Department of Earth Sciences professor at the Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, the constant exposure to diesel emissions is equivalent to smoking nine packs of cigarettes a year. “Diesel emissions have a pretty profoundly negative impact on people,” he said. “If you can get it out of schools and get it out of school buses, you are going to have a net win for the future.”

“There are times that twice a day the buses are gathered in one spot and running for a period of time and the students are right there,” commented CCSD Director of Facilities and Transportation Ron Farrand about his concern on existing diesel buses and their replacement.

In this sense, the CCSD plans to acquire more Autogas vehicles soon. For more information, please check this link.

20 June 2018