International Council on Clean Transportation

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Fuel additives: MMT

Since its founding the ICCT has kept a consistent focus on the need to control octane-boosting metallic fuel additives because of their harmful consequences to public health and their disabling effects on vehicle pollution control equipment. While these additives have been banned or voluntarily eliminated from fuels in Europe, North America, and Japan, they are used in other countries, despite the existence of feasible alternatives.

The ICCT’s work in this area, summarized here and here, has keyed particularly on methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT). A rare consensus exists among automakers, refiners, and the public health community in favor of restricting the use of manganese compounds in fuels. But regulation remains uneven, in part because of vigorous efforts by the manufacturer of MMT, Afton Chemical, to promote its use and contest proposed restrictions. This continues a pattern set by Afton’s predecessor the Ethyl Corporation, which for decades avoided restrictions on tetraethyl lead and manganese-based additives. Read more

EU member states ILUC workshop

On 20 September 2010, the ICCT held a workshop for European national officials in Brussels on the EU Commission’s ongoing indirect land use change consultation. The consultation is asking whether the issue of indirect land use change needs to be addressed in European legislation, and how this could be done. The workshop was attended by the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Hungary, Spain and (EEA member) Norway. There were also representatives from the European Commission Directorates General for Energy and for Climate Action, as well as the EU’s Joint Research Centre, the International Food Policy Research Institute and Ecofys. Read more

Filed under: Biofuels | Europe | Fuels | ILUC

EPA guidance on SCR: ICCT comments

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is the dominant technology used to meet nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions standards for heavy-duty diesel vehicles in the United States, Europe, and Japan. In developing markets such as China and India, which are planning to implement Euro IV standards, SCR is also manufacturers’ preferred technology option. It allows for NOx control with little or no fuel-economy penalty, and can permit manufacturers to continue marketing the same engine/aftertreatment combination even as emission standards become tighter over time.

NOx emissions by mean speed and test cycle for MY 2008 SCR-equipped Japanese truck.

But SCR poses unique implementation challenges stemming from its reliance on a reducing agent (typically aqueous urea, though others can be used), which is injected into the exhaust gas upstream of the catalyst, and which must periodically be replenished. SCR requires an extensive urea delivery infrastructure for geographically dispersed mobile sources and robust failsafes to ensure that drivers properly fill onboard urea tanks. Under certain circumstances SCR-equipped vehicles in use may also pose problems with off-cycle and unregulated emissions due to the temperature dependence of catalytic activity, improper urea dosing, catalyst poisoning, and the formation of catalytic byproducts. Read more

Filed under: Environmental Protection Agency | Heavy-duty vehicles | NOx emissions | SCR