By the OGJ Online Staff
LONDON, May 11 -- The European Commission Friday proposed to make the use "zero sulfur" fuel mandatory in every member of state by 2011, as part of a plan to accelerate the take-up of newer fuel-efficient technologies in cars and trucks to help reduce C02 emissions.
The EC proposal, which would see zero sulfur fuel introduced through the European Union starting in 2005, aims to "remove an important technical barrier to the introduction of the most advanced fuel-efficient vehicles," according to Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström.
"This is a good day for the environment," said Wallström. "We can now expect significant reductions in emissions of C02 from new cars, vans, trucks and buses. In addition, these fuels will help clean up the emissions of older more polluting vehicles and improve air quality for people throughout the European Union."
Wallström acknowledges that the production of zero sulfur fuels, because it required more processing at refineries, would lead to an increase in C02 emissions, but she said the benefits would outweigh the production costs.
"The fuel economy improvements of new vehicles are expected to be greater than the increase in emissions of carbon dioxide at refineries, particularly given recent advances in refinery desulfurization processes," she said.
"The monetized benefits of reduced fuel costs for consumers and those from improved air quality outweigh those associated with the production of zero sulfur fuels," Wallström said.
Because the data regarding the desulfurization of diesel fuel and the fuel economy improvements calculated for new diesel vehicles are "less certain than for petrol," the EC plans to set an end date for full adoption of zero sulfur diesel in a later review.
The proposal put forward today is expected to amend EC directive 98/70, which set fuel quality standards for EU states. The second set of regulations stemming from the directive, set to come into force on Jan. 1, 2005, will replace the maximum permissible level of sulfur content of petrol and diesel of -- 50 mg/kg or parts/million -- with the new zero sulfur fiat.
