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Diesel engines power most heavy vehicles that move people and goods in the United States. As the primary power source for heavy vehicles with gross vehicle weights of more than 8,500 pounds, diesel engines offer high efficiency, reliability, and durability.
These engines are facing increasingly stringent emission standards for oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). EPA standards for 2007 are designed to reduce emissions of NOx, PM, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons and to help cities achieve National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
Improving Diesel Efficiency and Emissions
At the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), we are researching advanced combustion technology, emission control devices, and diesel fuel formulations that will allow compression ignition (CI) diesel engines to meet increasingly stringent emission requirements. Our goal is to reduce CI engine emissions and improve their already high efficiency, while meeting energy security and air quality goals.
NREL's Advanced Petroleum Based Fuels (APBF) project focuses on meeting emissions standards and improving CI efficiency. Our mission is to develop new CI fuel and lubricant formulations that will decrease consumption of imported petroleum, improve vehicle emissions performance, and open pathways to meet future CI engine standards.
Asking the Right Questions
NREL's APBF project is part of a collaborative effort of government and industry participants, including DOE, its national laboratories, engine manufacturers, energy companies, and research organizations. Some of the questions the project is seeking to understand include:
- How effective can new fuel formulations be in reducing emissions from advanced CI engine systems?
- How can new CI fuels be formulated optimally for emissions performance?
- How can new fuels and engine system equipment be optimized economically for engine performance and emissions
A New Fuel—with Tangible Benefits
Our project supports the development of fuel formulations that could provide several benefits, including:
- Reduced reliance on imported petroleum fuels
- Near zero emission engines that will protect public and environmental health
- New markets for U.S. energy companies and engine manufacturers
- Liquid fuels that can be used with the current infrastructure
- Maximum engine and fuel production efficiency
- Reliable, durable engines to move goods and people.
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