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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Rentech(RTK) - gas-to-liquids and cleaner fuel -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bob who wrote (2200)	3/18/1998 8:59:00 AM
From: Captain Nemo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14347

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.