Archived press release

Oil industry delays cleaner fuels

20 June 1997

Friends of the Earth today criticised the oil industry for resisting moves in the European Council of Environment Ministers to tighten proposed new fuel standards. This will delay the introduction of the cleaner fuels essential to improve Europe's air quality.

The Environment Council agreed last night to tighten the European Commission's proposed fuel quality directive, but fell short of backing British and German moves to introduce low sulphur diesel from the year 2000 [1].

The cost of the standards agreed will amount to around £10 per year for the average driver[2], a figure that is well within the range of market fluctuation. Despite this low cost to the consumer, the oil industry has constantly claimed that tougher standards would place an unacceptable financial burden on the industry.

News from Brussels indicated that the UK Government's position was tougher than that of the previous Government, and placed it among the more progressive countries.

Roger Higman, Friends of the Earth's Senior Transport Campaigner said:

"Oil industry lobbying has delayed the introduction of cleaner fuels, meaning that millions of children across Europe will continue to suffer from the effects of air pollution. However we welcome the fact that cleaner petrol and diesel willeventually be introduced, but not as clean and not as soon as we had hoped".

A deal will now have to be reached with the European Parliament which has called for far tougher standards than those agreed last night [3]. Much of the conciliation work necessary to broker this deal will take place during the UK Presidency of the European Union, which starts in January 1998. This will place UK Ministers at the heart of the negotiations.

Roger Higman added:

"The result of yesterday's meeting may be a good Euro-fudge, but it does not deliver what is necessary to reduce air pollution and protect health".

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] The European Commission has been involved in a series of studies and negotiations with motor manufacturers and the oil industry. The aim of this work, known as the Auto/Oil programme, was to develop the third stage of European standards for vehicles and fuels.Based on the Auto/Oil programme, the European Commission published last year draft directives on new fuel quality standards and on vehicle emissions limits for new cars.

In its draft Directive on fuel quality, the European Commission proposed that the maximum sulphur content of petrol and diesel in the year 2000 should be 200 parts per million (ppm)and 350 ppm respectively. The Council of Ministers last night agreed to set the standards at 150 ppm and 350 ppm respectively.

Some northern European governments, including Britain and Germany, were proposing that the maximum sulphur content of diesel be set at 50 ppm.

The sulphur content of diesel is one of the main factors determining the emissions of particulates: lower sulphur content means lower levels of particulate emissions. It has been estimated that particulate emissions, of which transport is a major source in Britain, cause up to 10,000 premature deaths every year in England & Wales. Low sulphur levels in diesel are also needed to make sure that the next generation of vehicle emissions technology is viable. High levels of sulphur in petrol reduce the effectiveness of catalytic converters by 10-15%. This increases emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons.

[2] The costs of the Commission's current proposals on fuel quality to the oil industry have been calculated at several billion ECU per year. However, when the cost is translated into the annual cost for the average motorist, this amounts to a maximum of 11.89 ECU(£8.20) per year for petrol and 12.47 ECU (£8.60) per year for diesel.

Further research by the consultants who made the original cost estimates has shown that the Auto/Oil programme could have over-estimated by 17% the cost of reducing sulphur in petrol to 30 ppm, and by 55% the cost of reducing sulphur in diesel to 50 ppm.

[3 In its debate on the proposed Directive, the Parliament proposed that the maximum sulphur content of petrol and diesel should be 30 ppm and 100 ppm respectively by the year 2000.

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