Public Consultation on Euro VI: October 20th Deadline
Thursday, September 15, 2011
The European Commission has invited stakeholders, including truck and bus manufacturers, to contribute to a public consultation regarding Euro VI heavy duty (HD) emissions legislation. Under increasing pressure to improve air quality, especially in urban areas, the EU has set itself some ambitious objectives to reduce greenhouse gases and atmospheric pollutants.
The public has until 20th October to feedback on a bundle of six individual measures relating to emissions including:
1) the potential to reduce fuel consumption through eco-efficient driving behaviour or ‘eco-driving.’
2) Applying ammonia (NH3) emission limits to heavy duty motor vehicles. This is a controversial issue for HD manufacturers as the new legislation will drive up the cost of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. From an environmental perspective, this could prove counter-productive as it would encourage their replacement with cheaper vehicles which could be more polluting. To address this concern, the Commission are considering changing the scope of ammonia limits so that it only limits slip from vehicles where NH3 is formed as part of the NOx reduction by the selective catalyst. They are also considering excluding powered heavy duty vehicles (CNG/LPG) from the existing NH3 limits by only applying them to diesel engines.
HD manufacturers who will be affected by the new legislation (which will be binding as of 31st December 2012) are encouraged to submit their comments via e-mail to: entr-consultation-emission@ec.europa.eu or to the European Commission, ENTR D.5, 1049 Brussels.
More information can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/automotive/documents/consultations/2011-emission-standards/index_en.htm