Chinese Updates: Cleaner Fuel on the Way for Shanghai Motorists (31 Jul 2013)

Cleaner Fuel on the Way for Shanghai Motorists

2013-07-31

Gas stations across Shanghai will start selling cleaner fuel in December, the latest initiative by the city to reduce vehicle pollution.

Local authorities yesterday announced the timetable for implementing the Shanghai V (5) standard for fuel.

This includes the Shanghai V standard for petrol and "5th-phase" standard for diesel.

The cleaner fuel will be available at two or three gas stations from September as a trial. It then goes sale citywide from December.

These standards cap sulfur content below 10 parts per million - compared with the current 50 ppm.

The local standard is similar to the European V automobile diesel standard and the Beijing standard V for automobile petrol, said Shen Weimin, deputy director of the Shanghai Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau.

Manganese content - a major exhaust pollutant that can harm the respiratory system - will be cut to 2 milliliters per liter in the new standard from the current 6 milliliters per liter permitted.

Fuel prices will stay almost the same, said the bureau.

Stricter restrictions on banning highly polluting cars will also be introduced in November.

"The city has taken a series of measures to curb pollution, but there is still a big gap in its air quality compared with developed countries," Shen said.

"Pollutants caused by road traffic are particularly severe, with volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxide the major pollutants in emissions in urban areas," added the official.

A local equivalent of the Euro V standard is urgently required to tackle environmental problems, Shen said.

The bureau said the city will implement a national V standard of automobile fuel when issued.

In May, Beijing became the first city in China to adopt a standard which is equal to the Euro V vehicle emissions cap.

When a grace period ends in 2017, this standard will be introduced throughout China.

"The timetable shows that China is pushing faster to upgrade gas quality," said Wang Zhen, deputy head of the China University of Petroleum's China Energy Strategy Research Institute.

Source: http://english.mep.gov.cn/News_service/media_news/201307/t20130731_256678.htm