I understand that this is not the solution, we need to phase out gas-powered engines in order to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, and I understand that the filters would have to be changed and washed/recycled/disposed of constantly and couldn’t just sit on the tailpipe clogging up, I just don’t understand why a filter would be useless, wouldn’t it help just a little? Would it just ruin the cars? What about rooftop carbon capture devices? Is there nothing we can do to reduce pollution and carbon output from our current combustion engines?
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A lot of people are talking about catalytic converters, but a more “true” filter would be Diesel Particulate Filter, or DPF. They act like an actual filter, filtering exhaust soot from diesel engines. The thing is that said filter needs to be cleaned somehow, as a clogged filter would not only increase emissions, but also reduces engine power and reduces fuel efficiency. Some filters requires replacement, but the vast majority would “recharge” by raising exhaust temps, which would burn the captured soot. Issue is that this requires burning extra fuel, which would hurt fuel economy. There’s also claims of DPF systems being unreliable and being very expensive to repair, although I haven’t personally owned a diesel vehicle long-term.
There’s also other systems in place, such as recycling exhaust gasses back inside the engine’s intake (EGR system), much better engine control electronics, modern “fast burning” combustion, etc. Modern cars are nothing like old carbureted pickups of several decades ago.
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