– It’s very unfortunate. But if we have the choice between slightly higher emissions for a while, or having all buses and trucks stop driving, I think we should choose the former.
The director says in NHO Transport, John H. Storring to NRK.
Now, along with others in the industry, they have contacted the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, where they are requesting permission to repair diesel engines to dispense the additive. Adblue.
Adblue converts harmful nitric oxide (NOx) from diesel exhaust into harmless nitrogen and vapor.
They are deeply concerned that the potential shortage of Adblue, as well as the sharp increase in pump prices for diesel, will have serious consequences.
Jon H. Stordrange of NHO Transport thinks one should consider whether NOx emissions could be a solution to the crises if Adblue delivery stops.
Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB
Fear of bankruptcy
– Our members are very afraid of what might happen. John H says Sturdang: We fear that this will lead to bankruptcies on the part of buses and trucks.
All modern buses, trucks, agricultural machinery and construction machinery now operate after the so-called Euro 6 . standardswhich requires, among other things, emissions close to zero from diesel engines.
In total, an estimated 28 million machines and vehicles in Europe use Adblue to purify diesel.
If they want diesel cleaning parts, all vehicles must enter the workshop and the engines must be reprogrammed.
fixed price week
The transport industry fears that the war in Ukraine will lead to a shortage of Adblue, since Russian natural gas is a raw material in production.
— but if it’s downright risky, we can solve it by disconnecting the adblue function in buses and trucks, says NHO’s Stordrange.
All in September last year, Yara and other European manufacturers raised Adblue prices, due to higher natural gas prices.
The industry now says the situation is getting dangerously close, and claims that in the worst-case scenario, buses, trucks and cars with modern diesel engines should be stopped.
It will have dire consequences for society, says NHO’s Stordring.
So far, the biggest problems have arisen in Finland, where almost all of Adblue is produced using Russian urea.
They all began to notice because of the trade boycott of Russia.
We are currently working on different solutions. We have a good dialogue with local producers, Axel Hagelstam of the Finnish emergency services tells Hovudstadsbladet.
Yara accounts for about half of Adblue’s annual production of about 5 billion liters.
Photo: Yara
– bad idea
The largest manufacturer of Adblue in Europe is the Norwegian Yara. They currently have four Adblue factories and nearly 50 percent of the market.
They realize that the transportation industry is taking into account the circumstances of the crisis, but they absolutely reject that stopping environmental clean-up is a good solution.
– We think it’s a really bad idea.
That’s what Torben-Skaeum-Jensen, Yara’s commercial director for North said.
It’s going to be somewhat of a theoretical discussion about solving a problem that isn’t a problem, not yet anyway, says Skyum-Jensen.
Yara notes that Russian urea accounts for 5 percent of the need in the production of the environmentally friendly drug Adblue. They say in the event of a crisis, one should look for other solutions.
– In this case, we’d go back 15 years or more when it comes to air quality, especially in cities, according to Skyeum Jensen.
He also says that to date there is no general shortage of Adblue in Europe, and therefore no reason to loosen environmental requirements.
Adding Adblue to buses and other diesel vehicles has reduced smog and emissions, especially in urban areas.
Photo: Claudio Reyes/AFP
Work with the crisis plan
Sigve Jarl Aasebø is a Senior Consultant at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.
He assures NRK that they have received inquiries about the possibility of changing the cars, so that they drive without Adblue with higher NOx emissions.
– So we are working on a plan to maintain socially important transportation if the effects of war escalate and this would lead to shortages in the future.
Tell them that they all met with Yara about it.
– There is no indication that this will happen, but we want to have a plan in case the accident happens, says Asebo.
Sigurd E. Jørgensen works with public relations in Yarra. He thinks it is completely unrealistic for the transportation industry to be listening to the proposal they have come up with now.
He points out that all modern diesel vehicles have to go to a workshop to separate the environmental function.
– If one were to shut down in the purely practical way, who should put the toothpaste back in the tube? Jorgensen asks.