Transport officials are working on how they can stop vehicle operators disabling emissions-reducing systems on their vehicles – although at this point it is not illegal to do so.
SCR (selective catalyst reduction) systems inject a catalyst liquid, which go under names such as Adblue, GoClear and Air1 in order to reduce vehicle emissions.
There have been some systems made available for sale to disable these systems, in a bid to avoid costs.
When disabled, the vehicle does not necessarily meet the emissions standards it was imported under.
For now, the practice is not actually illegal.
“The 2007 Vehicle Exhaust Emissions Rule only requires that any modifications to a vehicle’s exhaust system should not prevent it from passing the metered test set out in the Rule. In the case of diesel vehicles, the test is for opacity (smoke) and not for nitrous oxide so a modified vehicle would be expected to pass the test,” a Ministry of Transport official told DieselTalk this week.
The ministry is however concerned and is working on a way to sort the issue.
“The Ministry of Transport is concerned about the use of these devices, and we are working with our legal and technical advisors to see what we can do about the situation,” the official says.
This work is part of a wider programme on reducing exhaust emissions.
The issue of SCR and other emissions reduction technology will be the main topic of the next DIESELtalk magazine – out next week.
DIESELtalk’s ’emissions industry report’ puts the spotlight on transport emissions regulations, the growing market for emissions technology and trends likely to impact upon New Zealand’s heavy transport and equipment industry.
The report contains authoritative contributions from leading industry stakeholders and provides analysis and solutions around managing energy and harmful emission output.
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