Honda announces cleaner, "greener" diesel power train for automobiles: "As carmakers race to find the next new technology that will meet the Tier II Bin 5 regulations that the United States plans to implement next year, representatives for Honda announced Monday that the company has developed a diesel power train that is as clean as a traditional gasoline-driven vehicle.
With gas prices continuing to climb, consumers are looking for gas-conscious alternatives to traditional gasoline-driven vehicles, but diesel engines, while about 30 percent more fuel efficient than gasoline engines, tend to spew out greater amounts of the greenhouse gas nitrogen oxide (NOx).

The new technology relies on a system that generates and stores ammonia in a two-layer catalytic converter, and turns NOx into harmless nitrogen. DaimlerChrysler AG is already working on a similar process, but Honda says its own system is superior because it is not as complicated and does not require heavy add-ons to make ammonia from urea-based additives. "