For drivers of a recent diesel vehicle, it is a purchase that has become unavoidable. Regularly, their car asks them to fill up with AdBlue. If the tank of this additive is empty, the vehicle will no longer start.
As a reminder, AdBlue is made up of demineralised water (67.5%) and urea (32.5%). It is used to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions via an SCR type system, which has spread to diesel passenger cars with the Euro 6 standard.
It’s basically an insignificant expense, with a consumption of one to two liters of AdBlue every 1,000 km. But that is starting to weigh more on the budget of motorists. AdBlue prices have been trending upwards for several months.
The urea that goes into the composition is produced from ammonia, itself derived from natural gas. However, as we know, gas prices have soared in recent months, under the effect of the economic recovery after the Covid and then the start of the war in Ukraine. In addition, production consumes a lot of energy.
This has also failed to arrest drivers. As we wrote a few months ago, we came close to a shortage of AdBlue. Ammonia production plants have indeed decided to take a break.
In the ParisianNicolas Broutin, President of Yara France, explains: “When we have to make reductions in production linked to the cost of gas, we look at the energy efficiency of the plants during the process of transforming natural gas into ammonia. And we first slow down the least efficient plants. So that has was the case of our Yara Industrials division in Le Havre, which notably produces AdBlue, mainly for the French market”.
This prompted the government to act to avoid the shortage of AdBlue. He announced the implementation of aid for companies affected by soaring energy prices, in order to encourage them to resume their activity. Which will be the case with Yara.
We should therefore avoid running out of AdBlue, but the price of cans will not drop. To save money, there is a simple trick: find a station that dispenses AdBlue at the pump. While with a can purchased from a car centre, a liter of AdBlue is often around €2, with a pump AdBlue can be found at less than one euro per litre.
Be careful however, some pumps are suitable for heavy weights, with a high flow rate. But more and more stations offer pumps for light vehicles, especially in the Total network (a search tool allows you to find them on his site). Supermarkets are also there. The opportunity to fill your cans at a lower cost.