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On Jan. 10, CSX Transportation agreed to become a charter partner of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Smartway Transport program, which relies on private companies to voluntarily develop long-term climate-control strategies that reduce greenhouse gasses.
EPA officials believe the program can help reduce 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions by 2012 and save up to 150 million barrels of oil a year, according to a prepared statement.
CSXT plans to continue conducting research to develop new technologies that improve the railroad's environmental performance, such as subsidiary ECOTRANS Technologies L.L.C.'s Auxiliary Power Unit (APU).
An EPA-certified emission-reducing kit, the APU is designed to keep oil and water warm while the main engine shuts down, helping to reduce locomotive fuel consumption up to 7 percent, and NOx and hydrocarbon emissions up to 50 percent.
In September, ECOTRANS, CSXT and GE Transportation Systems (GETS) announced plans to jointly develop and deploy APUs on GETS-manufactured locomotives. The companies plan to market APUs for locomotive retrofit packages and new-unit installations.