EU Parliament, Council of Ministers OK 'zero-sulfur' limits for 2005, 2009

Diesel Fuel News, Dec 23, 2002 by Jack Peckham

European Parliament and the Council of Ministers just finalized an agreement to mandate 50-ppm sulfur limits on diesel in 2005, "market availability" of 10-ppm diesel between 2005-2009, and "in-principle" 10-ppm ULSD limits for non-road diesel starting in 2009.

The European Commission (EC) would review the final sulfur limit on non-road diesel by Dec. 31, 2005, "in parallel with its submission of a proposal for the next stage of emission standards for compression-ignition engines in nonroad applications," the EC noted.

During the 2005-2009 interim, non-road sulfur limits would fall from 2,000-ppm today to 1,000-ppm in 2008, rather than 350-ppm as proposed (see Diesel Fuel News 9/30/02, p16).

The latest Parliament/Council agreement explicitly endorses the use of tax incentives to encourage early introduction of "zero-sulfur" (<10-ppm sulfur) fuels, no matter whether these come from crude refining or other sources.

Such incentives could "shorten the transition period where two different [sulfur] qualities are distributed in the market," explains International Fuel Quality Center's Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, in Brussels.