Diesel Emission Regulations

The 2016 Chevrolet Colorado, is now being offered with a diesel engine. This is the Duramax four cylinder, 2.8 liter. Chevrolet insists that this is the cleanest car they have ever produced. They have gone the extra mile to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions as well. GM has stepped up their game, not just with this truck, but with the GMC Canyon, that is almost exactly like the Colorado. The Canyon and Colorado have pumped life into a dormant market (mid sized truck). So much so, that truck buyers are buying this, rather than a bigger, full size truck they normally would have bought.

To stop the pollutants from entering the atmosphere car manufacturers have fitted these cars with extremely effective filters but the issue with that is people tamper with them. So when a diesel can emits a dark black smoke it is most likely because the filter is broken or it's missing altogether. A down side to the filter is that it works best when it is hot so short trips around the city won’t do anything to the NOx that passes through it. Car manufacturers have been finding other ways to reduce the emissions by recirculating it back from the exhaust to the cylinder. Another thing they have been doing is injecting urea which is made of ammonia to trap the

When it comes to the environmental impact that gas and diesel engines have. It turns out that gasoline is more unstable than diesel, not because of what its base consists of, but because of the additives it contains. In addition, vehicles that use diesel tend to be more fuel-efficient and produce less greenhouse gases. Diesel is more environmentally friendly. The United States has what is considered to be the dirtiest diesel, but as of June 1, 2010 this is going to be different. U.S. diesel fuel has a lower measure of ignition quality. This means that when it is cold outside, ignition performance is poor and can result in higher emissions. This is why you see truck drivers idling their trucks all night long in cold weather rather than risk a troublesome start in the mornings. But, the sulfur in the diesel that is emitted during cold ignitions and long engine idling is still harmful to the environment because the sulfurs prevent the control of diesel particulate emissions through diesel particulate filters. This is changing, though, since new advanced technologies such as nitrogen oxide absorbers are being developed to reduce these emissions. As for gasoline, it is the non-aliphatic hydrocarbons as well as carcinogenic additives

Dane, John, and Kent J. Voorhees. "Investigation of Nitro-Organic Compounds in Diesel Engine Exhaust." National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2010). Print.

The mistrust between the Volkswagen Company and their customers developed after the scandal associated with the incorrect emission of data and cheating of the system unfolded.  The scandal occurred on the eighteenth of September 2015 when it was found that the company had made a car with a turbo that released emission directly into the real word atmosphere. The allegations were genuine and were proved by the Environment Protection Agency in the United States (EPA) (Hotten, 2016).The chief

Motor vehicles are a leading source of air pollution. Even though automobile and truck engines have become far cleaner in recent decades, the sheer

With the supply of fossil fuels steadily declining, gas and oil is becoming harder to harvest which means it is getting more expensive. Fossil fuels take millions of years to be naturally produced, yet each person burns gallons of gas per day (Maehlum par. 5). Though fossil fuels are produced naturally, when burned they release nitrogen oxides gases into the atmosphere, which contributes to the formation of smog and acid rain. According to the EPA, major sources of these nitrogen oxide emissions come from cars and trucks, coal-fire powered plants, large industrial operations, and ships and airplanes (EPA par 3). By reducing the number of gas powered cars on the road, we can reduce the amount of harmful chemicals we are releasing into our atmosphere.

Petrol engines in cars produce a number of pollutants which can be removed by catalytic converters.

Volkswagon was caught cheating on their diesel emissions by a man named Daniel Carder and his small research team at West Virginia University in late 2012 through May 2013. The team consisted of a research professor, two graduate students, a faculty member and himself. Their team originally wanted to investigate emissions to help the diesel cars in Europe. There has been much data suggesting vehicles in Europe have high nitrogen oxides and dioxides. The goal was to look at emissions in the U.S. where the emission standards were very strict. It was thought that if the cars were found to be clean, then they could take the data results to Europe, and say “why can’t you do the same in Europe?” The small research team had been granted $50,000

According to Peter Chaney, the automotive world can be a weird one, filled with a bunch of oddballs. There are chrome-loving low-riders, electric car fanatics, giant wheeled donkers and the list goes on. But there is nothing like coal rollers, a group that brings new meaning to the “dirty diesel.” It is impossible to drive through a small town in the south in a Prius. This is like painting a large bullseye on the windshield for coal rollers to roll coal on, since the black soot is referred to as “Prius Repellent” (Chaney). Should we be more harsh on the manufacturers of diesel engines to help regulate and prevent diesel exhaust from causing pollution?

While new trucks and cars emit about 90 percent fewer pollutants than they did 30 years ago total annual vehicle miles driven have increased by more than 140 percent since 1970 and are expected to increase another 25 percent by 2010. The emission reductions from individual vehicles have not adequately kept pace with the increase in miles driven. As a result cars and trucks are still the largest single

One industry that is currently undergoing environmental challenges that call for changes is the American Automotive Industry. Vehicle emissions are a major contributor to the issue of global warming. When speaking of emissions we are referring to the amount of carbon dioxide and other gaseous chemicals that are released into the atmosphere. The release of these gasses creates respiratory issues in the populace, as well as creates thinning (and eventually holes) in our ozone layer. These gases are expelled from vehicles when fuel is burned; the greater the fuel usage of a vehicle the more it burns off into the atmosphere.

An estimated 480,000 school buses are in use every day in the US. About 95% of these buses (456,000) are using diesel fuel, using 822,857,143 gallons per year, which produces 95,000 tons of smog. This smog is not only incredibly damaging to the environment, but has cancer causing effects on the children the buses are transporting. Diesel exhaust has been proven to cause lung cancer, damage eyes and increse symptoms of illnesses such as asthma and heart disease. Not only that, but the fuels affect on the environment is huge, causing incredible amounts of damage to the ozone layer and increasing global warming. This issue could be stopped in many ways. Propane, or other alternate fuels could be used instead of diesel. Another way is that the

The topic of vehicle emissions is always being discussed by people of all different fields. Engineers look at the problem as “How can we design vehicles to be more fuel efficient?”. On the other hand, environmentalist look at the problem as “How can we stop this?”. Authors Khan, ABM S; Clark, Nigel N; Gautam, Mridul; Wayne, W Scott; Thompson, Gregory J and Lyons, Donald W from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at West Virginia University in Morgantown have written an article for the “Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association” on the topic of vehicle emissions. The article is titled Idle emissions from medium heavy-duty diesel and gasoline trucks, the most of the contents of the article are results from an

Diesel emissions are the greatest output of atmospheric nanoparticles such as cerium oxide and nitrogen oxides which are the cause for more than two-thirds of all particulate matter that will emit from U.S. transportation alone.1Since diesel emissions output these semi-volatile particles at such a high rate, they have started to create a ground level ozone which can irritate the respiratory system and cause cardiovascular illnesses. While diesel fuel is combusting, any excess turns into soot or particulate matter. This is composed of hundreds of elements which include particulates of all sizes, including ultra-fine particulates that are small enough to pass through the cells of human lungs. When these particulates get brought into the atmosphere they will vaporize and oxidize which forms a greater mass of secondary organic aerosol. These ultra-fine particles are such an increasing danger to humans because they make up 80-90% of all diesel emissions. They are causing tens of thousands of deaths worldwide but particularly in Europe, where there are higher populations in smaller areas.2These deaths are mostly coming from the nitric oxide being emitted by the uncombusted diesel. (See Figure 1.) An estimated 100,000 people will continue to die a year from diesel pollutants if governments don’t start to take action. The strange part about nitric oxide is that the same chemicals that come out of diesel emissions are currently being used as a steroid for bodybuilders. The use of this steroid and the additive of nitric oxide in the atmosphere can cause