grade of world’s most widely used nitrogen fertilizer used to meet new US environmental regulations to cut air pollution Urea tanks will be standard equipment for most new diesel trucks, buses, cars, and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) manufactured in the United States after Jan. 1, 2010. An automotive grade of urea will be injected into the vehicles’ exhaust stream to “scrub” nitrogen oxide (NOx) from the diesel exhaust. NOx, a major air pollutant, contributes to smog, which causes asthma and respiratory and heart diseases. The system, urea SCR or “urea-based selective catalytic reduction,” is the only technology available that can remove enough NOx from diesel exhaust to comply with strict new limits imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), says Glenn Kedzie, Environmental Counsel for the American Trucking Associations.
Public release date: 10-Nov-2008
Contact: Dr. Thomas Hargrove
