ROME – There is not only the obligation of the green pass for drivers to create inconvenience to the world of road transport. On the contrary. Now the biggest problem, the one that really risks blocking trucks and therefore deliveries throughout Italy, is called Adblue. This additive, which is added in the fuels of Euro 5 and Euro 6 trucks (but also in the latest generation diesel cars) to reduce nitrogen oxide and nox emissions, in fact, has become impossible to find on the market. And, in the absence of Adblue, the engines of these vehicles will not start. Unless you use “emulators” that deceive the control unit on the additive level, but these are systems that make vehicles illegal. The stop could concern almost one and a half million ecological trucks registered in Italy, of which over 300 thousand with a capacity exceeding 35 quintals. Paradoxically, older trucks, those from Euro 0 to Euro 4, which do not use Adblue, will be able to move freely.
The alarm was raised by the general secretary of Trasportiunito, Maurizio Longo. But why this sudden shortage of Adblue? The cause is to be found in the current surge in fuel prices and, in this case, in the price of methane, which is used to produce ammonia and therefore to produce Urea. And Adblue is nothing but Urea diluted in distilled water. This chain reaction, according to Longo, is rapidly running out of stocks of Adblue in all Italian regions, also because the high prices of methane have blocked the production chain of this additive.
A few weeks ago, for example, Yara, a company specializing in the production of Adblue based in Ferrara which supplies about 60% of the national market, announced the closure of its plants for a month due to the lack of ammonia. This situation of shortage of the product is already triggering phenomena of hoarding and speculation. So much so that, denounces the general secretary of Trasportiunito, the cost of Adblue has jumped from 250 euros to 500 euros per 1,000 liters.
In short, despite the proclamations on the ecological transition, a paradoxical boomerang effect is being triggered: those who have not changed trucks and have kept the very old and polluting euro 0-1-2-3-4 in the fleet will find themselves enjoying a position of competitive advantage over those who have invested in the purchase of an ‘ecological’ vehicle. And this, if the institutions do not find a solution soon, will lead to a record increase in emissions.
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