Reducing emissions from diesel engines

Reducing air pollution and exhaust emissions is a major challenge for the automobile industry. Forthcoming exhaust emission standards will require – alongside reductions in CO₂ – further reductions in air polluting emissions such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are a major source of atmospheric pollution and can cause respiratory problems.

With the help of a catalytic converters technology (SCR) NOx emissions are converted into harmless water vapour and nitrogen in the exhaust stream of diesel vehicles. The technology has been used in the road freight vehicles for the last ten years but its widespread use in passenger diesel cars has not started until recently.

The use of this technology  brings down the amount of NOx emitted from the vehicle by up to 90% and leads to improved air quality. In 2016 it helped prevent the release of 1,5 million tonnes of NOx into the atmosphere. It is estimated that the technology can generate annual NO_X savings of up to 2.2 million tonnes by 2020 and up to 3.2 million tonnes in 2030.

Associated SDG targets