ARGUMENTS between the oil industry, car manufacturers and environmental lobbyists can get as dirty as the emissions from the cars themselves. The latest, over sulphur in fuels, is no exception.
By 2009, all vehicle fuels sold in the EU will have to be sulphur-free. This, it says, will make car engines more efficient and their emissions less noxious. But the oil industry, which is reluctant to adapt its refining plants, is hoping other countries won鈥檛 adopt similar policies. A report from Concawe, an association of European oil companies, conveniently concludes that cutting sulphur content from today鈥檚 average of around 150 parts per million to the 10 ppm that qualifies as sulphur-free is 鈥渦nlikely to bring substantial emissions benefits鈥�.
Giovanni De Santi of the European Commission鈥檚 Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, says his own as yet unpublished investigations show that 鈥渢hese fuels are a step ahead for the environment鈥�.
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