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Dope set for a boost
Page 12
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• EC proposals on truck particulates emissions could lead vehicle manufacturers to reject diesel fuel in favour of alternatives like methanol. New emission standards are thought to be incorporated in proposals that are currently being submitted: a final decision is expected at the end of the year.
An EC directive controlling gaseous emissions from truck exhausts (directive 8877) was passed last October. Member states may apply the directive after October 1990, at which time the UK plans to make the standard mandatory. The directive also contains a littlepublicised second stage (Article 6), which says that the EC should have fixed a limit on particulate emissions not later than October 1988.
That deadline was missed because the Commission was looking at the effects of falling fuel quality on exhaust emissions. Ricardo Engineering has been retained by the EEC to test a wide variety of fuels with different engines, and its report is due in April.
The Commission is studying the American practice of a staggered introduction of particulate standards. The UK has generally been more concerned with gaseous emissions, but has fallen in with EC policy.
German and Scandinavian manufacturers generally favour the standard set by America for 1991. This sets tough standards that stop just short of fitting particulate traps into the exhaust pipes of trucks — a largely untried technology.
The UK seems to agree with this view. Peter Bottomley, speaking at the directive 8877 parliamentary debate in March 1987 said: "We should be pressing the European Commission to bring forward tough proposals for the most stringent limits technically and economically feasible."