Claims that the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) “process of choice” will emit toxic byproducts haven’t deterred Terra Industries Inc., which will be supplying the nitrogen for the diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). According to press reports, Navistar, which is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in federal appeals court, has filed a letter stating that the top researcher for the California Air Resources Board (CARB) said that the process most engine manufacturers will use to comply with 2010 federal diesel emission standards could endanger public health.
Navistar and EPA are at odds over the agency’s skipping the federal rule-making process in its approval of SCR. Navistar is the only major truck manufacturer that will not be using the nitrogen-based SCR process.
Joe Ewing, Terra vice president of investor relations and human resources, told Green Markets that California hasn’t gotten to the point of testing the proposed catalysts. “It is our understanding at Terra that CARB will be conducting tests on certain of the catalysts that are being proposed for use in the new SCR technology,” Ewing pointed out. “The tests have nothing to do with the urea-based DEF. Rather, the tests will be conducted on the metallurgy of certain of the catalysts.”
Ewing noted that it is also Terra’s understanding that not all of the catalysts being considered are affected by the tests, only certain ones. In the meantime, “EPA has not backed off implementation of the new NOx reduction standards for 2010, so the industry is gearing up for SCR implementation,” he pointed out. “Terra Environmental Technologies (TET), a division of Terra, is actively positioning to supply its TerraCair DEF in the supply chain to meet demand.”
TET represented 5 percent of Terra revenues in 2008 and grew to 8.5 percent for first half 2009. Terra expects TET margins to be at or higher than agricultural margins.