Urea tanks on diesel trucks -- that's the law in the United States starti...(tives of almost 200 organizations includ...)

Part of the work of the SCR Stakeholders Group involves development of a Web site locator for DEF similar to that used for AdBlue in Europe.

In Europe, AdBlue prices have almost doubled since mid-2007 and producers are finding it difficult to absorb cost increases for urea, Today's Trucking reported on July 18, 2008, citing Integer Research. "Add the fact that producers are getting better returns on urea when it is sold as fertilizer, and no wonder that prices have driven up," the report stated.

DEF Manufacturers

Traditional fertilizer manufacturers will probably produce most DEF urea used in the United States. Producers in the SCR Stakeholders Group include Agrium, Brenntag North America, Dyno Nobel, Koch Industries, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, and Terra Industries.

Stephen Zwart of Stamicarbon says, "In Europe, manufacture of AdBlue has been a boon to many fertilizer manufacturers who now allocate part of their production to urea solution for the trucking industry."

Logistics of DEF

Keith Stokes says that delivering urea to gas stations should not be a problem. "Although the United States has more than 30,000 gas stations, only 2,200 of them supply 97% of the heavy-duty vehicle market.

"But urea storage tanks in some regions will need heating coils to keep the solution above its 12 F [-11 C] freezing point."

Pilot Travel Centers, the largest retail operator of travel centers in the United States, announced rollout plans to make DEF available "at the pump" at more than 100 centers in mid to late 2009 in a Sept. 29 news release. The Pilot Centers will also carry prepackaged DEF.