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Key Issues - Environment

Future fuel specifications

SAPIA established the Future Fuels Working Group, an oil industry body which is developing a long-term roadmap for the determination of future fuel specifications over the next 20 years. The roadmap draws on the lessons learned in Australia and Europe, but is tailored to South African conditions. It is also designed within a timeframe that will, to a certain degree, allow vehicle manufacturers to keep up with the required changes in vehicle technology.

While future fuel specifications are vital for addressing environmental concerns, it is very costly. It will cost oil refiners in South Africa between R20-billion and R40-billion to implement the changes. Presently, the oil refineries in South Africa are not equipped to meet the requirements commensurate with the envisaged changes and developments in fuel and vehicle technology.

The cleaner fuels journey in South Africa

The process of introducing cleaner fuels into the South African market started with the removal of lead in petrol, the subsequent introduction of unleaded petrol (ULP) and the reduction of sulphur levels in diesel.

• The process of removing lead from petrol started in 1986, with unleaded petrol being available from 1996, and lead finally being banned in January 2006.
• Diesel sulphur was reduced from 5 500ppm to 3000ppm in 2001, with a niche grade of 500ppm being introduced.
• Diesel sulphur was reduced to 500ppm in 2006, with a niche grade of 50ppm being introduced.
• Unleaded petrol sulphur was initially introduced at 1000ppm, dropping to 500ppm in 2006.

The oil industry was instrumental in driving these changes and remains committed to sustainable investment that will lead to an improvement in air quality in South Africa.

SAPIA believes it is important that initiatives to improve air quality continue to be driven by government, taking into account the particular circumstances that apply in South Africa. SAPIA understands that DEAT (the Department of Environment and Tourism) will be the lead agent in the Cleaner Fuels Phase 2 process, setting vehicle emission standards, while the Department of Energy will legislate fuel specifications.

SAPIA, along with other stakeholders, recognises that the South African cleaner fuels journey is one that is ongoing and seeks to remain a supportive and proactive stakeholder in this process.

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Vehicle emissions and the environment

The rapid growth in the number of vehicles both worldwide and in South Africa has led to an increase in fuel consumption and a significant increase in emissions from the transport sector.

Air pollutants, smog, the greenhouse gas effect and climate change are some of the issues that are frequently raised in discussions about environmental problems relating to road transport and vehicle emissions.

If complete combustion of fuel in the engine was to take place, only water and carbon dioxide (CO2) would be emitted. However as such levels of efficiency are not achievable in practice, trace amounts of unburnt hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), benzene, particles (PM), volatile organic components (VOC) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) are emitted in addition to water and CO2. These pollutants all contribute to urban air quality degradation.

The most commonly used method of pollution control in petrol engines is via a catalytic converter, which treats the exhaust gas before it leaves the vehicle, removing up to 90% of the pollutants.

While vehicle emission standards have been mandated in many countries for a number of years, South Africa only introduced emission specifications for new models of vehicles with effect from 2006, and for all new vehicles as from 2008. This lags the introduction of enabling unleaded petrol, which has been marketed in South Africa since 1996.

The net effect is that the ‘potential’ emissions control capability of the South African vehicle parc has lagged significantly behind many other countries. Further to this, maintenance of emissions control equipment is not mandated in South Africa - the actual condition of catalytic converter devices, if installed, is unknown.

For its part, the oil industry through the South African Petroleum Industry Association (SAPIA) remains committed to playing its role in contributing to improved air quality in South Africa. The introduction of 'cleanest' fuels with matching vehicle technology will accelerate the development of cleaner air quality but this will still take time to achieve with the current South Africa vehicle parc.

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International lessons learnt

South Africa tends to follow the standards applied in Europe (EU), which are amongst the most advanced in the world, in respect of both fuel quality specifications and vehicle emissions standards.

Among the key learnings from the experiences of other countries are the following:

• The achievement of improved air quality requires a holistic and integrated approach, involving all the major players, including government and the motor vehicle industry.
• Government should follow a pragmatic approach and initiate any changes in an orderly and phased manner in order to allow oil companies to plan and implement changes on time.
• A well managed process is required, taking into account timing considerations necessary to meet the challenging requirements for effective delivery.
• Incentivisation has been used successfully in many countries to stagger the introduction of cleaner fuels (i.e. stagger refinery modifications) in order to ensure security of supply and to encourage early investment.