Leaded gasoline will no longer be on sale in European Union countries beginning Jan. 1, 2000, as Brussels continues to tighten legislation in pursuit of cleaner air in big cities.
BP Amoco PLC has developed a high-octane, lead-free fuel to cater to the many older vehicles on Europe's roads that are not able to run on existing unleaded gasoline.
This new gasoline grade is a relatively minor step on the road to emissions-free motoring. Launching the new fuel in the UK on Sept. 27, BP Amoco explained that, as environmental legislation tightens still further, radical new fuels are needed if the motor car is to remain our favorite means of transport.
Peter Histon, manager-fuels technology at BP Amoco, said that legislation already being drafted by the EU would prove tough to meet, because both gasoline and diesel engines are fast approaching their limits in terms of development.
Challenge
"The challenge for today's fuels," said Histon, "is the environment: the removal of poisonous lead, the further reduction of sulfur, and the development of 'clean fuels' that help minimize undesirable products of combustion by allowing the engine manufacturers to fit sensitive exhaust control systems.
"And we must achieve this at no cost to the customer, who understandably expects the oil industry to provide clean fuels as a matter of course. Here at BP Amoco, we examine all the possibilities, from interesting short-term options like diesel-water emulsions, which can reduce particulate matter and nitrogen oxide emissions, to prospects for the medium and long term."
A key factor in BP Amoco's thinking, explained Histon, is the availability of natural gas in the world today: global reserves are said to outstrip the reserves of crude oil.
"The cost of converting natural gas to low-sulfur, liquid hydrocarbon products is falling, and there are already some examples of gas-to-liquid processes in existence. These offer the prospect of sulfur-free fuels and alternatives for the future."
CO2 target
But BP Amoco sees natural gas-derived fuels as a stepping stone to fuels of the longer term; these will be defined by society's aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in a bid to combat global warming.
"If we are truly to get big CO2 reductions overall," said Histon, "we need to move away from internal combustion engines as the sole prime mover (and) towards new technologies."
At the moment, battery electric vehicles are hampered by weight and short range, and it appears these drawbacks cannot be overcome. The hybrid electric vehicle, in which an engine is used to generate electric power to provide propulsion, is an alternative that may prove to be transitory.
"The ultimate motive power unit," said Histon, "is arguably the fuel cell running on hydrogen. The fuel cell combines hydrogen and oxygen to form water and electricity, the reverse of water electrolysis. The electricity produced can drive an electric motor directly or via a battery, or both.
"The fuel cell has the potential to be twice as good as the best internal combustion engine in terms of fuel economy and CO2 production."
