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While it is great to see regulations forcing auto makers to meet strict exhaust emission regulations, the fact is that new vehicles are not the problem.

Older vehicles are the main cause of exhaust emissions and heavy-duty trucks are by far the worst offenders. While many jurisdictions have clean-air rules for older passenger vehicles, regulations forcing the big rigs to clean up their act are few and far between.

That's due to a number of factors, including the impact on operating costs and concern about the trickle-down effect on the economy because the vast majority of consumer goods are transported by trucks.

However, strict new regulations to go into effect in the United States, Europe and Japan in 2010 require a 95-per-cent reduction in nitrogen oxide (NO{-x}) emissions compared with 1998 levels.

These regulations mean a new generation of passenger-vehicle diesel engines will be coming to market this year and next.

Most of them, especially those developed by Mercedes-Benz and other German manufacturers, require the use of a urea-based fluid, which has to be replaced at regular intervals.

The top-up can be performed during regularly scheduled maintenance intervals. But this is not practical for commercial vehicles, which generate extremely high mileage in short periods of time. The requirement to carry the necessary fluids and refill every few thousand kilometres would be expensive and impractical.

This provides an exceptional opportunity for a Canadian company. NxtGen Emission Controls of Burnaby, B.C., is developing an add-on system that will not only clean up diesel exhaust, but result in improved fuel economy.

Founded in 2004 by former employees of Ballard Power Systems and QuestAir Technologies, NxtGen has developed an innovative diesel-emission reduction system that can be fitted to the exhaust system of new diesel vehicles or retrofitted to existing medium- and heavy-duty commercial diesel engines.

The company says it is expected to reduce particulate emissions by 85 per cent and NO{-x} emissions by 65 per cent while allowing improvements in fuel economy of as much as 10 per cent.

NxtGen says its system uses highly reactive "syngas," a combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide produced by reforming diesel fuel and engine exhaust. The syngas converts NO{-x} to nitrogen and water in a pair of lean NO{-x} traps.

The company says the system is up to 70 per cent smaller than urea-based systems, which depend on artificially generated and extremely high exhaust temperatures to burn off or convert harmful emissions.

NxtGen says its system allows the diesel engines to be recalibrated to operate at lower temperatures and avoids the need to carry and replenish a fluid.

The company has real-world field trial projects under way in Canada and the United States to demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of the innovative technology.

The two-year, $12.4-million Canadian test - which has received financial support from EnCana Corp. of Calgary and Ottawa-based SDTC (Sustainable Development Technology Canada), a not-for-profit foundation - involves a dozen trucks in three fleets across the country. The trucks, including three operated by a major EnCana supplier, will be fitted with the NxtGen device.

A similar trial is under way in California where the system has been fitted to 10 trucks. Particulate and NO{-x} emissions and fuel economy will be monitored over 1,000 engine operating hours - about one year of use.

NxtGen has targeted the U.S. market first and says several major American diesel engine makers have asked for prototype systems for evaluation. The company says it will have a production version of its system ready for manufacturers in 2009.

globeauto@globeandmail.com