Non-Road Mobile Machinery emissions
The emissions legislation on non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) covers a huge range of applications. From small engines (less than 19 kW) to the biggest engine for road machines (above 560 kW).
For the small applications (less than 19 kW), many of these are powered by petrol engines, but for the larger applications, the majority uses diesel.
The latest emissions step, Stage V, was introduced on 1 January 2018 for engine type-approval and on 1 January 2020 for placing on the market of engines
Since adoption of Regulation (EU) 2022/2387 end of 2022, emissions of most engines on the market have to be monitored during their service, except for some specific categories. It is expected that the European Commission will analyse the monitoring data and come with a report on the review of Stage V regulation by 31 December 2025.
Emissions measurements of AECC and TNO showed a large variation is observed in real-world NOx emissions of NRMM stage IV and V engines. An issue observed is that the NRMM regulation does not consider a substantial share of the real working conditions. AECC looks forward to contributing to the review of Stage V regulation.
The emission control systems used are the same as for other heavy-duty diesel vehicles, with Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF), Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOC) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) as the main technologies. They can be used as original equipment or are available as retrofit systems for most equipment.
In addition to Europe-wide legislation, there are sometimes local regulations for construction equipment (as in Switzerland) or for equipment used in mines. There may also be incentives, requirements built into construction contracts (especially in city centres) or company internal policies that stimulate the use of these technologies.
Tractors
The NRMM emissions Directive does not directly apply to agricultural and forestry tractors, but a parallel Regulation sets essentially the same series of requirements as for NRMM, again phased in by engine size.
Small non-road equipment
The emissions requirements for engines for small non-road equipment (less than 19 kW) form part of the emissions legislation on non-road mobile machinery (NRMM), with specific classes for small hand-held and non-hand-held equipment.
Unlike light-duty vehicles, where the complete vehicle is tested, the emissions test for small equipment uses only the engine, as the same type of engine may be used in many different applications.
The engines used for small non-road equipment have similar constraints on size as do motorcycles – in many cases even greater constraints. It is, though, still possible to fit a catalyst and many are now in use on this type of equipment.