During the federal government’s consultations for the Canada Grain Act review, farmers were surprised to learn that the majority of the CGC’s operating costs are covered by revenues from mandatory inspection fees of export vessels of grain. Those inspection costs are passed onto farmers through lower grain prices, as the CGC’s regulatory costs are hidden in the grain basis.

“Mandatory outward weighing and inspection by the CGC is a redundant service since 70 to 80 percent of grain contracts require a second inspection by a private, third-party company. Private companies can offer this service cheaper than the CGC, yet the CGC continues to offer this duplicated service,”

says Tara Sawyer, Alberta Barley chair.

The CGC has accumulated a $148 million surplus, which will continue to grow due to the large volume of grain being moved in the current crop year. The CGC needs to adjust its funding model to expect variation and adopt a model that will allow excess funds to be returned to farmers through reduced operating fees.

“As part of the Canada Grain Act review, we identified that the landscape of international grain trade has changed and Canadian farmers need the CGC to adapt as well. It’s time for the CGC to transition away from being a service provider as their high cost of inspections is affecting our competitiveness,”

says Todd Hames, Alberta Wheat Commission chair.

Source: Alberta Wheat and Barley

The post Canadian Grain Commission Fee Reductions Point to Flawed System that Imposes High Costs on Farmers appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Low-load cycle performance was estimated with a well-calibrated powertrain simulation tool to accurately capture the low-load system operation and emissions. This system showed a 74% reduction in NOx and a 5% reduction in CO2 compared with today’s clean diesel technologies. In comparison with current engine technologies and modifications to the thermal management techniques, dDSF saved 20% in fuel, validating dDSF as a more fuel-efficient means of reducing NOx.

Cummins and Tula demonstrated the positive dDSF results in a Class 8 truck powered by a Cummins X15 HD engine. The dDSF test results highlight a promising technical advancement for an industry seeking strategies to address future, more stringent NOx emissions regulations for diesel engines.

“Our mission at Cummins is to make people’s lives better by powering a more prosperous world, and we accomplish this through innovation,”

said Lisa Farrell, Director, Accelerated Technology Center for Cummins

“Tula’s dDSF technology provides significant benefits to reducing NOx and CO2 emissions under low-load vehicle operation, which will aid our efforts to produce more reliable, more powerful engines while meeting our environmental goals.”

 

“NOx standards are becoming progressively more stringent for diesel engines, and meeting those standards is increasingly challenging, even for a class-leading, efficient engine like the Cummins X15 HD,”

said R. Scott Bailey, President and CEO of Tula Technology.

“Our dDSF is a powerful and unique technology that enables original equipment manufacturers to significantly reduce NOx emissions that contribute to smog while simultaneously reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas production. We appreciate the opportunity to work with Cummins to demonstrate the capability of our technology.”

Dynamic Skip Fire is an advanced cylinder deactivation control strategy that makes decisions for an engine’s cylinders on an individual basis to best meet torque demands while saving fuel and maintaining performance. Tula’s original Dynamic Skip Fire software has been shown to significantly reduce CO2 emissions in gasoline engines and has been in production since 2018 with more than one million vehicles on the road.  dDSF is the Dynamic Skip Fire application for diesel engines.

Source: Cummins

The post Cummins and Tula Technology Results in reducing NOx and CO2 emissions appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.