Hong-Kong buses to be retrofitted with catalytic converters

26 October 1999

Engelhard Corporation of Iselin, NJ, announced that Hong Kong's largest operator of public buses, Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) Company, will retrofit 1,800 of its vehicles with advanced Engelhard diesel oxidation catalysts.

The move by KMB reflects a growing global trend toward diesel-bus and truck retrofits driven by a variety of factors, including government regulations, financial incentives, companies' growing commitment to "green" initiatives and even restrictions on the use of diesel vehicles without catalysts.

KMB's decision was not prompted by regulatory requirement, but rather the company's desire to support broad initiatives to make Hong Kong a world-class city.

KMB plans to immediately begin installing Engelhard's CMX® converter mufflers on its older model buses (pre-1994), which represent about one-third of KMB's fleet. Engelhard's CMX® converter muffler was the first technology certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency under its urban-bus retrofit program.

Regulations exist for bus retrofits in selected urban areas in the United States and several major cities in Europe. In addition, regulations currently are being planned for a number of locations including Hong Kong, India, and Thailand in Asia; Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Paris in Europe; Brazil and Santiago in Latin America; and Istanbul.

In addition, financial incentives are being offered in Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Australia. And, in Mexico City, driving restrictions on diesel vehicles without catalytic converters have created an economic demand for emission-control technology. Engelhard technology already has been retrofitted on thousands of diesel buses and trucks in cities in the USA, UK, France, Sweden, Mexico and Taiwan.

Engelhard also announced that it is commercializing its PremAir® catalyst system, which can be coated on the outside of car engine radiators in order to destroy harmful, ground-level ozone in ambient air. Volvo will begin equipping their new luxury S80 model with PremAir-coated radiators at the end of this year.

Source: Engelhard