CleanAIR on Campus is an awareness initiative sponsored by CleanAIR Systems . We are a green manufacturer of air pollution control technology. If you care about the environment and having healthy, clean air to breathe, read on.
Our goal:
Tell you why breathing soot from back-up generators (BUGs) is bad for you! (And almost every school has one!)
Tell you how to do something about it.
What Is a BUG?:
BUG is short for back-up generator, also known as an emergency generator, stationary engine or genset.
What We Want You to Know:
Most schools have at least one back-up generator (BUG). Many campuses have several.
BUGs are necessary for emergency power during blackouts.
BUGs need to be started routinely for testing and maintenance. They emit soot pollution with each start-up.
All BUGs, whether they run on diesel, biodiesel or natural gas, produce unhealthy pollutants.
Even if your school uses clean energy like solar or wind, they probably have a diesel BUG for emergency power.
Diesel and biodiesel BUGs emit fine particle pollution (soot) which has been proven to cause serious health problems.
Most BUGs, especially older ones, don't use emissions control technology. There are over 100,000 BUGs operating in the United States alone.
Each state and/or local government has the ability to pass their own regulations concerning emissions that affect schools.
Soot, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide from BUGs can be reduced by more than 85% if retrofitted with emissions control technology.
Emissions control technology from CleanAIR Sytems installed on top of a backup generator eliminates black smoke (particle pollution)and diesel smell (hydrocarbons).
What Others Want You to Know:
The Clean Air Task Force, Environmental Health Perspectives and The Coalition for Clean Air all warn that breathing fine particulate pollution is dangerous, causing asthma attacks, lung cancer, cardiac problems, and even shortening your life expectancy.
Environmental Defense says that over 400 counties in the USA are not meeting particulate health-based standards, meaning that more than 116 million people across the U.S. are breathing unhealthy air.
Soot pollution contributes to "global dimming" and in turn, affects global warming.
The World Health Organization says thousands of deaths each year are caused by exposure to particle pollution. And the American Lung Association believes it is the most serious health threat we face today.
Watch our Video:
See how emissions control technology works to cleanup diesel pollution from a backup generator.