Quality of petrol and diesel fuels: sulphur and lead

07 January 2010
by Ina Dimireva -- last modified 07 January 2010

To reduce pollution from car emissions, the EU has introduced new environmental specifications applicable to fuels: a ban on the marketing of leaded petrol and the obligation to make sulphur-free fuels available within the Union.

ACT

Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998 relating to the quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Council Directive 93/12/EEC.

SUMMARY

Directive 98/70/EC

This Directive meets the commitment given in Directive 94/12/EC that target values would be adopted involving a substantial reduction in pollutant emissions from motor vehicles after the year 2000.

It sets the environmental specifications to be applied (with effect from 1 January 2000 and 1 January 2005) to fuels for vehicles equipped with positive ignition engines (petrol) and with compression ignition engines (diesel).

Leaded petrol was banned from the market from the year 2000 onwards.

The Directive also provides for progressive improvements in the environmental quality of unleaded petrol and diesel fuel. The environmental requirements laid down by the Directive are mandatory with effect from the years 2000 and 2005 successively and cover:

• in the case of unleaded petrol: octane level, vapour pressure, distillation by evaporation, and aromatics, benzene, olefins, oxygen, oxygenates, sulphur and lead content;
• in the case of diesel fuel: cetane level, density, distillation, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and sulphur content.

Notwithstanding the general provisions of the Directive, Member States may in certain specific cases allow petrol or diesel fuels which fail to comply with the Directive to remain on the market. Such exemptions will be authorised:

• in the case of leaded petrol: until 1 January 2005, subject to the condition that States which wish such exemption on grounds of severe socio-economic problems or for environmental reasons must request it from the Commission by 31 August 1999;
• in the case of the sulphur content in unleaded petrol and diesel fuels: until 1 January 2003 and 1 January 2007, as appropriate, subject to the condition that States which wish such exemption on grounds of severe difficulties for their industries must request it from the Commission by 31 August 1999 and 31 August 2003 respectively.

Marketing of small quantities of leaded petrol is still authorised after 1 January 2000 for use by certain collector's vehicles.

Member States may also impose more stringent standards on fuels marketed on their territory in order to protect the environment or public health in a specific ecologically sensitive area, provided the measures are restricted to those areas. To this end, they must submit a request, stating the reasons, to the Commission in advance.

The Commission will take a decision, which will then be subject to a subsequent Council decision.

Member States must monitor compliance with the environmental requirements for fuels, using the analytical methods defined by the Directive. The Commission will promote the development of a uniform European system for fuel quality monitoring.

Periodically, the Commission must submit proposals for revision of the Directive on the basis of any new knowledge acquired on air quality, pollution reduction technologies and developments affecting international fuel markets.

The Commission also adapts the Directive to technical progress, in accordance with the regulatory committee procedure.

The Directive repealed Directives 85/210/EEC, 85/536/EEC and 87/441/EEC as from 1 January 2000.

Directive 2003/17/EC

This Directive requires Member States to ensure that unleaded petrol and diesel fuel with a maximum sulphur content of 10 mg/kg is marketed within their territories by no later than 1 January 2005. By no later than 1 January 2009 they must ensure that unleaded petrol and diesel fuel marketed in their territory complies with the environmental specifications set out in Annexes III and IV to the Directive (except for sulphur content, which must be a maximum of 10 mg/kg).

Member States must ensure that gas oils intended for non-road mobile machinery and for agricultural and forestry tractors contain less than 2 000 mg/kg of sulphur. By 1 January 2008 at the latest the maximum permissible sulphur content of gas oils must be 1 000 mg/kg.

Member States must introduce a fuel quality monitoring system and, by no later than 30 June each year, present a fuel quality report. In turn, the Commission must publish an annual report (the first one by 31 December 2003) on fuel quality in the Member States and on the geographical coverage of fuels with a maximum sulphur content of 10 mg/kg.

Member States must introduce penalties for infringements of the Directive.

REFERENCES

Directive 98/70/EC
Entry into force: 28.12.1998
Deadline for transposition in the Member States: 1.7.1999
Official Journal: OJ L 350 of 28.12.1998

Amending acts:
Directive 2000/71/EC
Entry into force: 4.12.2000
Deadline for transposition in the Member States: 1.1.2001
Official Journal: OJ L 287 of 14.11.2000

Directive 2003/17/EC
Entry into force: 22.3.2003
Deadline for transposition in the Member States: 30.6.2003
Official Journal: OJ L 76 of 22.3.2003

Regulation (EC) No 1882/2003
Entry into force: 20.11.2003
Official Journal: OJ L 284 of 31.10.2003

RELATED ACTS

Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 January 2007 amending Directive 98/70/EC as regards the specification of petrol, diesel and gas-oil and introducing a mechanism to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the use of road transport fuels and amending Council Directive 1999/32/EC, as regards the specification of fuel used by inland waterway vessels and repealing Directive 93/12/EEC [COM(2007) 18 final – Not published in the Official Journal].

This proposal is intended, inter alia, to confirm 1 January 2009 as the date on which all diesel must have a maximum sulphur content of 10 ppm (parts per million); to reduce the polyaromatic hydrocarbon content of diesel to 8% (instead of 11%); to reduce the maximum sulphur content of non-road gas oil from 1 000 ppm to 10 ppm for land-based uses and from 1 000 ppm to 300 ppm for inland waterways; to increase the oxygenate content and vapour pressure limit for petrol blended with ethanol, in order to enable a higher volume of biofuels to be used in petrol, with appropriate labelling; and to require fuel suppliers to reduce life-cycle (refining, transport and use) greenhouse gas emissions from these fuels by 1% per year from 2009. The proposal is also designed to simplify Directives 98/70/EC and 99/32/EC and repeal Directive 93/12/EEC, which has become redundant.

Report from the Commission of 1 December 2008: Quality of petrol and diesel fuel used for road transport in the European Union: Fifth annual report (Reporting year 2006) [COM(2008) 799 final - Not published in the Official Journal].

The specifications defined for petrol and diesel fuels by Directive 98/70/EC were in general met in 2006. Very few exceedances were identified. The Commission emphasises that the share of <10 ppm and <50 ppm sulphur fuels increased significantly from 2001 to 2006, and that most Member States are now selling sulphur-free fuels. However, the Commission notes problems related to the absence of labelling of fuels complying with this criterion. It explains that this aspect is an obstacle to the spread of vehicles using this type of fuel, which would have a beneficial effect on the environment in terms of lower pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the Commission regrets that most Member States did not provide precise information as to the geographical availability of sulphur-free fuels.

Commission report of 17 October 2007: Quality of petrol and diesel fuel used for road transport in the European Union: Fourth annual report (reporting year 2005) [COM(2007) 617 final - Not published in the Official Journal].

All Member States except France submitted national reports for 2005. This year, once again, no limits have been reported as having been exceeded. Nevertheless, the sulphur content of diesel fuel proved particularly problematic in 2005, principally in those countries which joined the EU in 2004, due to the entry into force of the new mandatory <50 ppm level on 1 January 2005. The report also shows that the proportion of fuel with a sulphur content of less than 10 ppm and 50 ppm increased between 2001 and 2005 in EU Member States prior to the 2004 enlargement. The Commission stressed, once again, the problem of disparity between national systems for monitoring fuel quality.

Report from the Commission of 28 April 2006: Quality of petrol and diesel fuel used for road transport in the European Union - Third annual Report (Reporting year 2004) [COM(2006) 186 final – Official Journal C 151 of 29.6.2006].

As in the previous year, very few incidences of non-compliance can be noted and the Commission has not received any information to indicate negative repercussions for vehicle emissions or engine functioning. There has been little progress made concerning the proportion of fuel with a sulphur content of <10 ppm and <50 ppm between 2003 and 2004 and EU enlargement has triggered a slight reduction in the proportion of such fuels in the total fuel supply. Nevertheless, the absence of the qualities defined for sulphur-free or low-sulphur fuels limits consumers’ opportunities to choose these fuels, with negative repercussions for the launching of vehicles using these fuels. There continues to be a problem of disparity between national monitoring systems for the quality of fuels.

Report from the Commission of 2 March 2005 - Quality of petrol and diesel fuel used for road transport in the European Union - Second annual Report (Reporting year 2003) [COM(2005) 69 final – Not published in the Official Journal].

Fuel quality monitoring in 2003 shows that the specifications for petrol and diesel laid down in Directive 98/70/EC have generally been met. Very few incidences of non-compliance have been reported and the Commission has no indication of any negative repercussions for vehicle emissions or engine functioning due to these violations. The share of fuels with a sulphur content of <10 and <50 ppm increased significantly from 2001 to 2003. Given the considerable disparity between national fuel quality monitoring systems, harmonisation is necessary to obtain transparent and comparable results.

Commission Recommendation of 12 January 2005 on what, for the purposes of Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning petrol and diesel fuels, constitutes availability of unleaded petrol and diesel fuel with a maximum sulphur content on an appropriately balanced geographical basis [Official Journal L 15 of 19.1.2005].

The Commission provides guidelines to help Member States ensure that non-sulphur fuels are available within their territories, with parameters including the proportion of refuelling stations supplying sulphur-free fuel per region and the average distance between refuelling stations supplying sulphur-free fuel.

Report from the Commission of 27 April 2004 - Quality of petrol and diesel fuel used for road transport in the European Union – First annual report (Reporting years 2001-2002) [COM(2004) 310 final – Official Journal C 122 of 30.4.2004].

This first report shows that during the period 2001-02, non-compliance with the provisions relating to petrol and diesel were infrequent in Member States. Measures aimed at ensuring compliance with these provisions should be adopted by those countries which have yet to do so. The proportion of fuels with a sulphur content of < 50 ppm increased considerably during this period, while that of fuels with a sulphur content of < 10 ppm remained almost unchanged. Furthermore, a number of Member States have not yet introduced low-sulphur (< 50 ppm) or sulphur-free (<10 ppm) fuels, marketed separately. The report underlines the fact that there is considerable difference between national fuel quality monitoring systems and that transparent and comparable results would depend on greater harmonisation.

Commission Communication of 5 October 2000: A Review of the Auto-Oil II Programme [ COM(2000) 626 final – Not published in the Official Journal].

The Communication reviews the approach taken in the Auto-Oil II programme and reports on the key results. It also reports on the progress of certain related legislative proposals and makes suggestions for the future.

A programme estimate regarding emissions from road transport suggests that emissions of the traditionally regulated pollutants will fall to less than 20% of their 1995 levels by 2020, whereas CO2 emissions will continue to rise at least until 2005. The share of overall (non-CO2) emissions attributable to road transport will have fallen between 1990 and 2010 and the relative importance of other sectors will have risen correspondingly. The Auto-Oil II programme provides for an improvement in urban air quality by 2010. The most important challenges concern particulate matter, regional tropospheric ozone levels and some localised exceeding of nitrogen dioxide targets. A policy assessment has led to the identification of cost-effective options for reducing emissions from 2- and 3-wheeled vehicles. Non-technical measures have demonstrated their potential for reducing emissions and cutting costs in cities. Fiscal measures have also been shown to provide a win-win solution for both the environment and the economy. The programme has shown that, in order to come up with a set of cost-effective measures, an integrated approach is required which encompasses emission sources, pollutants and measures.