(The following story by Diane Wetzel appeared on The North Platte Telegraph website on March 12.)
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — On any given day, nearly three million tons of goods and materials make their way across the United States. They travel on trains, planes and tractor-trailers that release millions of tons of emissions into the atmosphere.
The Pollution Prevention Regional Informational Center, located at the University of Nebraska Omaha campus and the Green Business Council of Omaha are recognizing the Union Pacific Railroad’s success in implementing sustainable solutions to reduce waste.
Fuel Masters, a U.P. program designed to reward engineers for keeping fuel use below average, began as a pilot program in North Platte. Today, more than 4,000 engineers on 30 different routes participate in the program, according to James Barnes, director of media information for the U.P.
The idea for creating an incentive program for engineers was the result of massive increases in fuel costs, said Wayne Kennedy, general director of fuel conservation for U.P. When the cost of diesel fuel more than tripled in a four-year period, the railroad was forced to take a closer look at how the trains operated.
“The locomotive engineer was the main driver in terms of whether we saved fuel or whether we burned fuel,” Kennedy said.
The program began in 2004, offering engineers $100 fuel certificates for consistently keeping their fuel use below average.
“Access to the program is now system-wide,” Barnes said. “Since 2005, we have saved 60 million gallons of gasoline and $30 million.”
Of all the modes of freight transportation, railroads are one of the most environmentally friendly, with greater fuel efficiency and releasing fewer emissions than over-the-road transportation.
“However, few would call the railroad industry green,” P2RIC representative Jenn Korell. “The U.P. is moving toward changing that image, moving to an environmental model that greens both the environment and their bottom line.”
P2RIC works to improve resource sharing between the programs, businesses and agencies of the Environmental Protection Agency’s region 7, which includes Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas.
Omaha’s Green Business Council is a network of businesses working to put into action programs to improve environmental performance.