Today's Washington Post Article: Innitiatives to reduce sulfur.
Not certain what association, if any, there is in RNTK processing. If the gas to liquid conversion removes sulfur this is another reason to jump on the train for those who still have doubts.
Cheers,
Captain Nemo
Quote:
Oil Refiners to Pledge Cleaner Fuel
Plan for Low-Sulfur Gas Follows Pressure From Automakers
By Warren Brown and Martha M. Hamilton
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, March 18, 1998; Page C09
The nation's largest oil refiners plan to announce Friday that they will
voluntarily reduce the sulfur content in gasoline, allowing automakers to fuel
a new generation of low-polluting cars, sources within the federal
government and the petroleum industry said yesterday.
The planned announcement by the American Petroleum Institute (API),
which represents refiners, comes on the heels of demands yesterday by
U.S. automakers that the federal government force oil companies to
produce the new fuel. The new cars will be available in showrooms next
year, and the automakers filed a petition with the Environmental Protection
Agency to prod the oil companies.
The low-sulfur gasoline also would reduce the tailpipe emissions of current
vehicles, many of which are expected to remain in service for the next 10
to 15 years, said Andrew Card, president of the American Automobile
Manufacturers Association.
Sulfur harms catalytic converters and other emissions-control equipment on
cars and trucks. It is especially harmful to the pollution-control sensors on
new, low-emissions vehicles. Faulty sensors and catalytic converters can
cause vehicles to produce more hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and other
waste gases that contribute to smog and global warming, environmental
experts say.
"What comes out of the car is a function of what goes in it," said Card,
whose group represents General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and
Chrysler Corp. "The time has come to work very closely with the oil
industry and with our government" to reduce gasoline sulfur content.
The American Petroleum Institute declined to comment on its plans, except
to say it planned to make an announcement after officials meet with the
EPA on Friday. In a statement, the institute said the auto industry's petition
"represents that industry's longstanding view" that the oil industry also has a
major responsibility to help cut tailpipe emissions.
"The petroleum industry has publicly acknowledged that the sulfur levels in
gasoline should be reduced. . . . These reductions should reflect
environmental requirements, meet reasonable cost-effective criteria for the
vehicle-fuel system, and not impose excessive costs on motorists," the
Petroleum Institute added.
Currently, in all states except California, sulfur levels in gasoline average
340 parts per million parts of gasoline. California sulfur levels are less than
one-tenth as high, an average of 30 parts per million.
U.S. automakers are asking that gasoline sulfur levels be reduced
nationwide to 80 parts per million, or less.
The EPA is studying the issue, said agency spokeswoman Martha Casey.
"We've been working with the Department of Energy and the auto industry
to evaluate all of the data on the impacts of sulfur in gasoline," she said. "If
regulations are appropriate, the agency will take action at a future date."
The move to reduce sulfur content in gasoline "is a pretty good step in the
right direction," especially if refiners can take sulfur content below 80 parts
per million, said Frank O'Donnell, executive director of the Clean Air
Trust, a Washington-based environmental group.
But other environmental groups, such as Inform Inc. in New York City,
have been critical of the auto industry's continuing push to improve the
traditional internal-combustion engine. "They're putting a lot of time and
money into a technology that already is 100 years old," said Joanna
Dehaven Underwood, president of the New York group.
Underwood said that the industry should be paying more attention to
advanced technologies, such as hydrogen fuel cells, which combine
hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity to power cars.
But Card said that the low-sulfur approach is not at odds with attempts to
develop more technically advanced cars. It's just more realistic, he said.
"The vast majority of all vehicles in America run on gasoline," Card said.
That being the case, the best and quickest approach to clean air is to make
gasoline-powered cars cleaner, he said. |
