[SIZE="4"]Waiting for Euro IV fuel[/SIZE]
By Aida Sevilla-Mendoza
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:55:00 10/19/2010
MANILA, Philippines—Last week at a media forum, guest speaker Ramon J. Paje, secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), gave us motorists in the audience great good news: Euro IV-quality standard diesel fuel with a low sulfur content of 50 ppm (parts per million) or less will soon be retailed in Metro Manila—if he succeeds in persuading the Department of Energy (DoE) to allow its importation by small players in the oil industry.
Since 2004, when the Clean Air Act took effect up to today, diesel fuel sold in the Philippines has had to be Euro II-compliant, containing 500 ppm of sulfur. Even the new, more expensive (by P2.50 to P3.00 per liter) diesel products, Shell V-Power Diesel and Petron Turbo Diesel, are Euro II, Paje said. What elated us motorists was Paje’s assurance that the Euro IV diesel fuel will cost the same as the Euro II.
Paje said that since 80 percent of ambient air pollution in Metro Manila comes from mobile sources (motor vehicles), lowering the sulfur content in diesel from 500 ppm to 50 ppm should reduce environmental pollution by 1,000 percent. Diesel exhaust, as we all know, emits pollutants and particulate matter (soot), sulfur oxide and noxious nitrogen oxide gas that directly contribute to acid rain and environmental degradation. Inhaling diesel exhaust leads to many health problems including headaches, respiratory ailments, asthma and lung irritation, aside from affecting growth in children.
Euro II
In 1996, when 50 ppm was the legal requirement enforced in the UK, the Philippine legal requirement was 5000 ppm. That it is now 0.05 percent by weight or 500 ppm (Euro II standard) indicates our country’s slow progress toward world environmental standards during the intervening 14 years. Paje disclosed that the DoE has extended the Euro II legal requirement for diesel fuel in the Philippines to 2016, whereas previously Euro IV would have been required by 2011. Japan has switched from Low Sulfur Diesel (LSD) to Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD), which contains biodiesel as an additive. As of August, diesel fuel stations in the United States were transitioning to ULSD following the finding that the emission systems of diesel vehicles manufactured in 2007 and onwards will be severely damaged by continuous use of non-USLD.
But should a developing country like the Philippines aspire for clean diesel fuel that Europe (where Euro V or below 10 ppm is standard) and Japan and the US require? As the Clean Air Institute for Asian Cities (CAI) notes, in the Philippines diesel is mainly used in public transport vehicles including jeepneys that spew higher levels of particulate matter and nitrogen oxides due to the lack of proper vehicle maintenance and their lack of particulate and nitrous oxide traps aside from less stringent fuel quality standards.
This point was also cited by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum marketing vice president Bobby Kanapi in a telephone interview. Kanapi contended that even if improperly maintained diesel vehicles like public utility jeepneys were to use Euro V diesel, their tail pipes would still belch unburned hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides and particulates because of incomplete combustion. He said Shell sells diesel that meets the 50 ppm sulfur standard and the 2 percent CME (coconut methyl extract) requirement set by the DoE. Shell and the other oil majors have no objections to the small players importing Euro IV diesel, but as far as they are concerned, there is no market for Euro IV diesel in the Philippines now since there are only a couple hundred cars that require Euro IV.
CRDi
On the other hand, since many affordable vehicles with modern CRDi (common rail direct injection) turbo diesel engines are in the market today and since the number of CRDi vehicles is growing fast, I think that the oil industry should move up to diesel fuel that is at least Euro III- (less than 350 ppm sulfur) or even better, Euro IV-compliant. Modern diesel engines require diesel fuel that has less than 350 ppm sulfur content. By the way, Euro II fuel is unsuitable for twin turbo diesel cars like the BMW 535d and 335d and the 3.5 liter twin turbo diesel X6, that’s why they are not sold here.
Which reminds me that when CATS Motors began importing diesel Mercedes-Benz cars, I was surprised to learn that they bought fuel from Seaoil, a minor player. And no wonder: Seaoil announced in September 2008 that it would offer for the next six months Euro V diesel with diesel cetane (combustion quality) number of 51, having entered into a US$30-million supply contract for its importation. Alas, by now that supply of Euro V diesel must have been sold out.
Practicality
Meanwhile, Pilipinas Shell says in a position paper that it backs the long-term goal to reduce sulfur in fuel to support the intro of advanced vehicle technologies like Euro IV-compliant vehicles, but it also cites the economic implications of changes in fuel parameters and the need to balance air-quality improvement targets with practicality and cost-effectiveness. True, to meet the Euro II standard in 2004, Shell had to reinvest in its Philippine refinery, but the cost was moderate compared with the massive up-front investment needed to modify and retool the refinery anew to reduce further the sulfur content of diesel from 500 ppm to 50 ppm. The reconfiguration, per rough estimates, might increase the production cost of diesel by 1.6 to 1.9 US cents per liter—and this will surely be passed on to the consumer at retail.
As the CAI points out, to meet Euro IV targets there are certainly technological and financial hurdles as fuel quality and vehicle technology are not just the domain of one industry; rather it is a business proposition of different stakeholders. The roles of various technologies and the requirements of fuel quality to achieve the end-goal of a cleaner environment have to be considered. Over here, the DoE allows sulfur content in diesel fuel to remain high in order to keep the pump price low. Never mind the cost to the environment and public health.
So I concur with Richard Bach, who is quoted by the CAI as saying: “We generate our environment. We get exactly what we deserve. How can we resent a life we’ve created ourselves? Who’s to blame, who’s to credit but us? Who can change it anytime we wish, but us?”