According to the US Environmental Protection Agency if one third of all light-duty vehicles in the US today were to use diesel engines, the US would save about 1.4 million barrels of oil a day. With the price of gas climbing each week and the President's challenge to reduce dependence on foreign oil, that sounds very attractive.
Gas prices are not the only criteria however. Global warming, climate change and air quality are high on the list of issues tied to fuel choice. The Strategy Analytics Automotive Electronics Service report, "Diesel Challenges Hybrids in the US," shows upside potential for new diesel technologies allied with the availability of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel in generating increased light-duty diesel vehicle sales across the US.
Diesel cars are extremely popular with European consumers wanting good fuel economy and there's increasing interest in the US. Automakers are looking toward diesel-electric hybrid powertrains, but the ever-tighter emissions standards, requiring the use of more expensive exhaust-control technology on diesels, which generally emit more pollutants than gasoline engines, are a problem.
In October of 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) began requiring most diesel fuel used in the U.S. to have sulfur levels that do not exceed 15 parts-per-million (ppm), which represents approximately a 95 percent reduction from previous levels. The report predicts that once the latest reduced emission diesel engines have been approved diesel will challenge hybrid vehicles for the more cost conscious "green" consumers.
One solution that could ease this dilemma is the development of fuel catalyst solutions that significantly reduce the NOx emissions from diesel (NOx is the primary component of smog). California Environmental Engineering (CEE), one of the few EPA and California Air Resources Board (CARB)-accepted laboratories in the country, tested the liquid fuel catalyst Green Plus on a CARB-certified Detroit Diesel Series 60 heavy-duty engine that had recently been rebuilt and already produced emissions levels that were close to or significantly below the emissions standards for CARB. With the addition of Green Plus to the fuel, the emissions were reduced even further. Volatile Hydrocarbons were reduced an average of 10.64%; Nitrogen Oxides were reduced 5.09%; and Total Particulates were reduced 8.35%. In addition, fuel economy was determined to improve 5% during a test simulating a typical over-the-road driving mode. CEE deemed the results "significant and noteworthy."
"The AVL Urban 8-mode test is extremely challenging, making it very difficult to produce lower emissions," said Bob Carroll, Chairman and CEO of Biofriendly Corporation. "The fact that Green Plus improved the results this much on an exceptionally clean engine under these test conditions supports the much stronger results we achieve in the real world, where most diesel truck engines are far dirtier."
If the emissions and pollution issue can be solved, diesel-electric hybrids could be a breakthrough technology that frees the US from dependence on foreign oil and protects the health of future generations.
Jim D’Arezzo is Senior Vice-President of Marketing for Biofriendly Corporation. He has a 30-year history of bringing successful new technologies to market. For more information, visit http://www.biofriendly.com
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