India introduces Euro-IV fuel to 13 cities

India's Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, has commissioned the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited's Euro-IV compliant oil refinery as part of the national target to implement Euro IV-compliant fuel in 13 major cities from April and upgrade the rest of the country’s fuel standards to Euro-III from Euro-II specifications. By bringing in tighter fuel criteria to improve air quality, India expects to 'leapfrog'  China, which started using a Euro III-like norm for petrol from 1 january with a Euro III diesel equivalent set to become a national mandate from June 2011.

“The Prime Minister and the government of India is committed to introducing mandatory fuel efficiency standards measured in terms of ‘kmpl’, which is kilometres per litre, or in terms of CO2 emission which is what the European countries are looking towards,” Ramesh said, as quoted by ANI.

He added that a Comprehensive Environmental Assessment had been carried out throughout the country which found that 88 industrial clusters were found critically polluted.

"In a place like Bhatinda where there is a critically polluted industrial cluster, the number of cancer patients is a very high. Where the environment is polluted beyond a certain level, it has caused health hazards for the inhabitants of the area. Although today in India, transport emission forms 7-8% of the Green House Gases but keeping in view the rapid growth in transport sector, there is urgent need to provide clean fuel at affordable price, he said.

Air pollution and Philippines energy policies

The JARI-Philippines Roundtable (RT) 2010 will bring together policy makers, researchers and the industry from the Philippines and Japan on 5 February 2010 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Makati City, Metro Manila.

Hosted by the Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI), in cooperation with the Transportation Science Society of the Philippines (TSSP), Philippine Automotive Federation Inc (PAFI) and the Center for Automotive Technology Corp (CATC), the event will provide an opportunity for meeting to discuss and exchange information and opinions in relation to solving the environment and energy problems arising from motorization.

Focussing on “Air pollution reduction and energy policies in Philippines”, discussiuons will cover the introduction of EURO 2/EURO4,  fuels policies,  environment and traffic management, vehicles and fuel and perspectives on the automobile sector.

Participation is free but limited to 100 delegates. The registration date is 25 January 2010. Download the document or email jarirt09@jari.or.jp for further details.