Oct. 27, 2009 (Business Wire) -- Tenneco Inc. (NYSE:TEN) today announced that it has been awarded a $24 million conditional loan commitment as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Incentive Program. The funding will support the engineering and manufacturing of emission control products designed to achieve environmental and fuel efficiency objectives for nine advanced technology vehicle programs.

Tenneco is the first automotive parts supplier to be selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to receive federal loans from the ATVM incentive program. To date, four vehicle manufacturers have also been awarded conditional loans under the $25 billion ATVM program.

“We’re very proud to have our advanced emission control technology recognized as critical to the development of more energy efficient cars and light trucks that meet increased standards for corporate average fuel economy, while also meeting new, more stringent standards for vehicle tailpipe emissions,” said Gregg Sherrill, Tenneco Chairman and CEO. “We’re honored to be the first automotive supplier chosen by the Department of Energy to take part in the ATVM incentive program.”

The funding will be applied to the design, engineering integration and production of key aftertreatment and exhaust components manufactured by Tenneco, including: catalytic converters, diesel oxidation catalysts, diesel particulate filters and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) units. Each component reduces the release of harmful pollutants, such as hydrocarbons, particulate matter and nitrogen oxide (NOx) into the environment. Tenneco’s diesel oxidation catalysts can reduce up to 90 percent of hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions and its diesel particulate filters can reduce particulate matter emissions by up to 95 percent.

The DOE funded systems will be engineered at the company’s state-of-the-art emission control engineering center in Grass Lake, Mich, and manufactured at Tenneco facilities in Ligonier, Ind., Litchfield and Marshall, Mich., and Seward, Neb. for use in vehicles as early as model year 2010.

In addition to producing these components for passenger cars and light trucks, Tenneco is on the forefront of the efforts to reduce commercial vehicle emissions and has been awarded production and development contracts to supply similar technology to a number of on- and off-road original equipment manufacturers for a wide range of applications, including on-road trucks, agricultural, construction, forestry and mining equipment, and locomotives.