Filters for the problem

THE EEC/UK government issue the' emission standards and conditions of test' [New emission standards for non-road engines] writes Andy Hamilton.

The engine supplier purchases test filters off the shelf from a major car/lorry manufacturer. Cost would be minimal to try them out. However if engine manufacturer does discontinue there would be nothing to stop a reconditioning engineer renovating a pre-standards engine for use in a new boat after the boat is sold.

Uneconomic

Look at the car market where new diesel cars have expensive emissions controls that make it uneconomic if the driver does less than 15,000 miles/year and that mostly on motorways. Petrol cars are now almost as economical, and my 1983 metro has only to comply with an easy HC test that I can adjust the carburettor to meet. I have a cheap tester that showed I could get HC emissions down to 0.1% rather than the legal limit of 4.5% for pre-1986 cars.!

I would not worry if I particularly wanted a specific diesel engine for a boat. Appropriate filters would be put in place for the test and then quietly removed for use. Even the notoriously smoking Perkins 2l engine could be made to pass the present Euro tests. Off the shelf filters and if necessary home made filters filled with activated carbon will work for a limited period. Anyone involved in spraying organic chemicals commercially will have these activated carbon filters in the face mask to remove all organic gases. Cost of filters would be tiny compared with redesigning engine to meet the rules.

What better way of giving the finger to the EEC than in subverting its lunatic schemes!