COLUMBUS, Ind. — President Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure bill into law on Monday. It’s a bill that will advance upgrades to the country’s roads, bridges, and broadband Internet.
But, the bill also has key elements that Cummins vice-president Jennifer Rumsey says will help steer the country towards more environmentally friendly options when it comes to transportation.
“In particular one of the key areas for us is the focus on de-carbonization and investing in a range of different technologies that we think will be critical to building out infrastructure that can help our nation de-carbonize,” Rumsey told Inside Indiana Business.
She says the bill has monies for investing in new hydrogen fuel-cell technology, batteries, and other forms of carbon-cutting tech for cars, trains, and other forms of transportation.
Cummins has traditionally been a diesel engine manufacturing company that employs thousands of Hoosiers both in Columbus and Indianapolis. But, with the approval of the infrastructure bill, Rumsey says the company is expanding its profile beyond that.
“It’s critical for our customers to start to move to lower-carbon technologies,” she said. “In five years, we hope that we continue to see progress in reducing and advancing engines and then continuing to see infrastructure build-out in some areas. That’s where this infrastructure investment is going to help.”
Some of that “build-out” Rumsey refers to includes charging stations for electric vehicles and upkeep for hydrogen full-cells.
Last year, the company held its first-ever Hydrogen Day, an event to discuss the future of its hydrogen fuel technologies and the company’s plans to embrace it.
