exhaust conduit 22 at least some of the heat from the exhaust gases in main exhaust conduit 22 may be transferred to ccv catalytic unit 34 in this embodiment ccv catalytic unit 34 may be maintained above a desired operating temperature without using an external heating device e g an electrical heating element in a similar configuration ccv catalytic unit 34 may be disposed adjacent to main exhaust conduit 22 such that heat from the main exhaust gases is transferred to ccv catalytic unit 34 alternatively ccv catalytic unit 34 may be located away from main exhaust conduit 22 in this configuration a heating device 36 may be included to maintain ccv catalytic unit 34 at a desired operating temperature heating device 36 may be any type of heating device including for example electrical heating elements burners etc further heating device 36 may be integral or non integral with ccv catalytic unit 34 in lieu of or in addition to heating device 36 ccv system 10 may include a pump 40 for compressing ccv gases compressing ccv gases will raise their temperature and thus perform at least partially the function of heating device 36 compressed ccv gases may be held in a chamber 42 and released at a controlled rate to ccv catalytic unit 34 egr system 28 may extract main exhaust gases from main exhaust conduit 22 and direct them back to air intake 16 where they may be reintroduced into the combustion chambers of engine 12 by undergoing the combustion process again more of the contaminants may be removed thus reducing emissions further accordingly the disclosed egr system.