Overview
PROCONVE 8 (P-8) standards, based on Euro VI, were adopted in 2018. P-8 standards will go into effect for new vehicle type approvals on January 2022, and for all new sales and registrations on January 2023; manufacturers are authorized to comply earlier with these standards. The standards will apply to all new on-road heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) with diesel or gas engines
Standard type
Conventional pollutant emission limits
Regulating Body
Brazil’s Conselho Nacional do Meio Ambiente (National Council for the Environment), or “CONAMA”, part of the Ministério do Meio Ambiente (Ministry of Environment). CONAMA is composed of state agencies, municipal governments, industry representatives, environmental organizations, and civil society partners. CONAMA is responsible for assessing and proposing environmental policy guidelines, including environmental standards such as vehicle maximum emission limits.
Current Standard
P-7 standards were implemented in 2012. The next stage, P-8 standards, will apply starting in 2022.
Applicability
Passenger and freight vehicles with Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) > 3,856 kg, or vehicle in running weight > 2,720 kg.
History
Brazil has been regulating vehicular pollution emissions since 1987 through the Programa de Controle da Poluição do Ar por Veículos Automotores (PROCONVE), a program created by CONAMA. As part of PROCONVE program, CONAMA establishes guidelines, emission standards, and implementation dates for different vehicles. Important legislative milestones include:
- Federal Law No. 6,938/1981 set the Environmental National Policy with objectives to preserve, improve and repair environmental quality in the country, aiming to assure socioeconomic development, national security and the protection of human life quality. This law also created the CONAMA, the council responsible for advising, analyzing and proposing environmental policy directives in accordance with the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources), or “IBAMA.”
- Federal Law No. 8,723/1993 required manufacturers to create vehicles, engines, and fuels with reduced emission of pollutants (CO, NOx, HCs, PMs, CHO), encouraging technological development;
- CONAMA Resolution No. 18/1986 created the PROCONVE program. Resolutions No. 08/1993, 315/2002, 403/2008 and 490/2018 updated PROCONVE, setting new phases, as detailed in Table 1;
- CONAMA Resolution No. 5/1989 created the Programa Nacional de Controle da Poluição de Ar (National Air Pollution Control Program), or “PRONAR”, establishing the need to control pollutant emissions. This program determined that maximum emission limits and air quality standards would be set by CONAMA’s Resolutions;
- CONAMA Resolution No. 3/1990 established air quality standards.
For heavy-duty vehicles, PROCONVE programs have been following the European precedent for emissions standards and certification test cycles. The “P” standards are applicable to heavy-duty vehicles and have become more stringent with each new phase. The implementation timeline of PROCONVE P-standards is summarized in Table 1. The P-8 standards will go into effect for new type approvals on 2022 and for all sales and vehicles registration on 2023.
The P-6 phase was never implemented due to the unavailability of the ultralow-sulfur diesel (ULSD) in Brazil’s market on the scheduled date of release. The sulfur content reduction was a necessary condition to achieve P-6 emission limits; as a consequence, PROCONVE P-5 remained effective until 2011. For the P-7 phase, diesel with a substantially lowered sulfur content (10 ppm) was made available.
| Standard | Resolution | Euro equivalent | Implementation date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PROCONVE P-1 | Conama 18/1986 | – | 1987 (Urban buses) 1989 (100%) |
|
| PROCONVE P-2 | Conama 08/1993 | Euro 0 | 1994 (80%) 1996 (100%) |
|
| PROCONVE P-3 | Euro I | 1994 (Urban buses) 1996 (80%) 2000 (100%) |
||
| PROCONVE P-4 | Euro II | 1998 (Urban buses) 2000 (80%) 2002 (100%) |
||
| PROCONVE P-5 | Conama 315/2002 | Euro III | 2004 (Urban buses) 2005 (Micro buses) 2005 (40%) 2006 (100%) |
|
| PROCONVE P-6 | Conama 315/2002 | Euro IV | Never implemented due to the unavailability of the ultralow-sulfur diesel (ULSD); P-5 remained effective until 2011 | |
| PROCONVE P-7 | Conama 403/2008 | Euro V | January 2012 (100%) | |
| PROCONVE P-8 | Conama 490/2018 | Euro VI | 2022 (new type approvals) 2023 (all sales and registrations) |
Technical Standards
During phase P-1, emissions were tested using two Brazilian norms, NBR 7026 and 7027. From phase P-2 to phase P-4, the R-49 test cycle was used. Phases P-5 to P-7 used both ESC and ETC test cycles for testing diesel engines and only ETC cycles for gas engines. PROCONVE P-8 replaces the ESC and ETC cycles with WHSC and WHTC, adds an off-cycle emission test using WNTE methodology, and includes in-service conformity (ISC) requirements. PROCONVE emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles are summarized in Table 2.
| PROCONVE Standarda | Euro Equivalent | Test Cycle | CO | THCb | NOx | PM | NMHC | CH4 | NH3g | PN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (g/kWh) | ppm | (#/kWh) | |||||||||
| P-1 (1989) |
– | NBR 7026/7027 | Only smoke index (smoke opacity limit k > 2.5) | ||||||||
| P-2 (1996) |
Euro 0 | R-49 | 11.20 | 2.45 | 14.40 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| P-3 (2000) |
Euro I (1991) |
R-49 | 4.9 | 1.23 | 9.0 | 0.7 0.4c,d |
– | – | – | – | |
| P-4 (2002) |
Euro II (1996) |
R-49 | 4.0 | 1.1 | 7.0 | 0.15d | – | – | – | – | |
| P-5 (2006) |
Euro III (2000) |
ESC/ELR | 2.1 | 0.66 | 5.0 | 0.10 0.13d |
– | – | – | – | |
| ETC | 5.45 | – | 5.0 | 0.16 0.21d |
0.78 | 1.6 | – | – | |||
| P-6 (skipped) |
Euro IV (2005) |
ESC/ELR | 1.5 | 0.46 | 3.5 | 0.02 | – | – | – | – | |
| ETC | 4.0 | – | 3.5 | 0.03 | 0.55 | 1.1 | – | – | |||
| P-7 (2012) |
Euro V (2008) |
ESC/ELR | 1.5 | 0.46 | 2.0 | 0.02 | – | – | 25 | – | |
| ETC | 4.0 | – | 2.0 | 0.03 | 0.55 | 1.1 | 25 | – | |||
| P-8 (2023) |
Euro VI (2014) |
WHSCe | 1.5 | 0.13 | 0.4 | 0.01 | – | – | 10 | 8 x 1011 | |
| WHTCe | 4.0 | 0.16 | 0.46 | 0.01 | – | – | 10 | 6 x 1011 | |||
| WHTCf | 4.0 | – | 0.46 | 0.01 | 0.16 | 0.5 | 10 | – | |||
| OCE (WNTE)e | 2.0 | 0.22 | 0.60 | 0.016 | – | – | – | – | |||
| ISC | 6.0 | 0.24 | 0.69 | – | 0.24 | 0.75 | – | – | |||
(a) Years indicate the full implementation of standards for all heavy-duty types.
(b)”THC” emission standards were denominated “HC” from PROCONVE P-2 to PROCONVE P-4 and in PROCONVE P-7.
(c) 0.7 g/kWh for engines with 85 kW and 0.4 g/kWh for engines with more than 85 kW.
(d) PM standards applicable to all heavy-duty vehicles except urban buses.
(e) Applicable only to compression-ignition (diesel) engines.
(f) Applicable only to spark-ignition (gasoline and CNG) engines.
(g) Applicable to vehicles equipped with after-treatment systems, with reducing agents (SCR) or vehicles fueled with CNG.
The P-8 phase set more stringent emission limits, reducing PM limits by 50% and NOx limits by 80%, compared to P-7 limits. P-8 also reduces the ammonia (NH3) limit, introduced in P-7 regulation, from 25 ppm to 10 ppm. In accordance with Euro VI, P-8 also includes limits for particle number (PN), in order to set a stricter control of fine particles.
TESTING
The P-8 regulation uses the same reference fuels as PROCONVE P-7 to test emissions. The reference fuels may change if the Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP), the Brazilian National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels, publishes new specifications that include biodiesel blends.
The PROCONVE P-8 replaces ESC and ETC cycles with WHTC and WHSC, respectively, making the change to more representative cycles for the emissions tests. P-8 also includes the World Harmonized not-to-Exceed (WNTE) off-cycle test, in accordance with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Regulation R49.06.
P-8’s on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems requirements are more advanced. They can be found in Annexes 91, 9B, 9C, 11, and 14 of UNECE Regulation R49.06 and Annex XIII of EC 582/2011, as equivalent national procedures have not been yet defined. These provisions include more-stringent threshold values following Euro VI.
DURABILITY REQUIREMENTS
Vehicle manufacturers must demonstrate compliance with the emission limits set by the regulation up to a duration of operation or a minimum vehicle mileage—whichever comes first. The requirements depend on the vehicle usage and gross vehicle weight. The durability requirements of P-8 are equivalent to those of Euro VI:
- Passenger vehicles weighing less than 5 tonnes (t): 5 years or 160,000 km;
- Passenger vehicles weighing between 5 t and 7.5 t: 6 years or 300,000 km;
- Passenger vehicles weighing more than 7.5 t: 7 years or 700,000 km;
- Freight vehicles weighing between 3.856 t and 16 t: 6 years or 300,000 km;
- Freight vehicles weighing more than 16 t: 7 years or 700,000 km.
For durability testing, emissions have to be within the maximum emission limit multiplied by a deterioration factor, shown in Table 3.
| Cycle | CO | THCa | NMHCb | CH4 | NOX | NH3 | PM | PN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WHSC/WHTC | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.15 | 1.0 | 1.05 | 1.0 |
(a) Applicable only to compression-ignition (diesel) engines
(b) Applicable only to spark-ignition (gasoline and CNG) engines
Links
Regulatory Documents
Latest adopted standard:
Proconve P-8, Conama 490/2018
Previous standards:
- Proconve P-1, Conama 18/1986
- Proconve P-2, P-3, P-4, Conama 08/1993
- Proconve P-5, Conama 315/2002
- Proconve P-6, Conama 315/2002
- Proconve P-7, Conama 403/2008
Regulatory agencies
Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renovaveis (IBAMA)
References
Brazil PROCONVE P-8 emission standards (ICCT policy update)
Cost-benefit analysis of P-8 emission standards
CETESB presentation on Brazil’s P-8 compliance program (presented at the 2019 meeting of the G20 Transport Task Group)
