Heavy trucks consume roughly 48 percent of our fuel and produce prodigious amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. At this critical time in our nation's history, a focused effort to modernize our trucking industry would strengthen our economy, provide secure employment, reduce our reliance on foreign oil, and protect our environment.
It is for those reasons that I have introduced the "Heavy Duty Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act," along with two colleagues from California and Wisconsin, Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator Herb Kohl. This bipartisan bill will accelerate research of plug-in hybrid technologies for heavy duty trucks.
Hybrid technology has advanced in passenger vehicles, and it is time that we apply this important technology to that sector of the transportation industry that is so vital to our economy. .
The federal government, through the 21st Century Truck Partnership, has for some years provided funding to conduct research and development for the modernization of the trucking industry, in association with a collection of private industry partners. Despite the significant potential benefits of hybrid trucks, however, research in this area was eliminated recently to emphasize a focus on passenger vehicles. This decision was shortsighted.
In 2008, truck operators in Maine and around the country were hard hit by increases in the price of diesel fuel. Fortunately, there has been some relief this year, but as our nation recovers from the current economic downturn, it is likely that the demand for diesel fuel will increase again in the future, with prices increasing as well. To help address this concern, as well as a significant safety problem in our state, Senator Snowe and I will soon introduce legislation that would lift the 100,000 pound federal weight-limit restriction that prevents heavy trucks from traveling on much of Interstate 95 in Maine. Instead, trucks are forced off the highway and onto smaller, two-lane secondary roads that pass through our cities, towns, and villages.
But, we can also do more to help our trucking industry. Given that our nation relies upon it to keep our economy running by providing timely delivery of food, industrial products, and raw materials, we simply must develop alternatives that make the industry less susceptible to dramatic changes in oil prices. Hybrid power technologies offer tremendous promise of reducing this critical industry's dependence on oil.
Putting this technology to work in the trucking industry will require research. Current hybrid technology works well for cars that can be made with lightweight materials and travel short distances. Trucks need to be constructed with heavy materials commensurate with the heavy loads they carry and, if they are going to be plug-in hybrids, travel relatively long distances between charges. Significant advances in battery and other technologies are needed to make plug-in trucks commercially viable and may require more advanced technology than is required for passenger cars.
This research is underway and is showing results. Just a few weeks ago, President Obama attended a demonstration in California of an innovative plug-in hybrid electric utility truck with a power system developed by Eaton Corporation and the Electric Power Research Institute. This plug-in hybrid truck, which is estimated to deliver fuel economy improvements of up to 70 percent compared to a conventionally powered truck, with corresponding reductions in harmful emissions, was developed for Southern California Edison. Eaton is in the early test phase of this plug-in system, an advancement with great potential.
Our bill sets the stage for accelerating these advances by establishing a competitive research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program for advanced heavy duty hybrid trucks. The research will help fill the gaps in the understanding of this technology identified in a 2008 National Academy of Science report on this subject. Following this research, a pilot program will test the effects on the domestic electric power grid of the widespread use of plug-in hybrid vehicles, including plug-in hybrids that are advanced heavy duty hybrid vehicles.
We need a comprehensive effort to modernize commercial transportation in the 21st century. The Heavy Duty Hybrid Vehicle Research, Development, and Demonstration Act is one vital piece of that effort. This legislation takes a positive, productive approach to the longstanding problems of imported oil and air emissions, and it will position our trucking industry and our nation for a bright economic future.