Abu Dhabi progresses toward introduction of green diesel as fuel

It will achieve this goal by slowly phasing out the use of High Sulfur Diesel as fuel.

High sulfur diesel, which contains sulphur content greater than 500 parts per million(ppm), has been linked to premature death, Lung Cancer, Asthma, Bronchitis and other serious respiratory diseases. Meanwhile, Green Diesel offers a cleaner alternative as it is less polluting to our environment and emits significantly lower amounts of hydrocarbons, particulates and carbon dioxide.

The action plan was discussed during the second meeting of the technical committee as well as several awareness programmes, in the pipeline for Abu Dhabi Emirate and the rest of the UAE.

By the year 2010, the action plan has called for the replacement of the currently used Diesel with Diesel that has Sulphur content of 50 ppm.

By the year 2012, Diesel that has Sulphur content of 10 ppm will be introduced. The general public will have to have their cars transformed at dedicated workshops to be able to use Green diesel.

The Committee consists of members from the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD), Federal Environment Agency (FEA), Takreer, ADNOC Distribution, Department of Transportation, General Headquarters of Abu Dhabi Police and the Emirates Standardization and Meteorological Authority.

In 2002, Takreer already took the initiative to reduce Gas Oil to 0.5% from 1%. By the beginning of 2007, it had further reduced it to 500 parts per million.

According to EAD, significant improvements in Abu Dhabi's air quality can be expected, particularly in the urban areas, when there is a move towards using cleaner fuels. The most polluting vehicles have been identified as buses and taxis, as they are the most in use and roam the roads for the majority of the day.

Green Diesel - What is it?

It contains less than 15 parts per million [ppm] of sulfur, while conventional diesel can contain up to 5000ppm of sulfur! Previously, diesel vehicles were the single biggest source of particulate emissions and the second biggest source of NOx after petrol.

Why Should You Use it?

For your environment and for your health...

• Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) produces less emissions of particulates, NOx, Volatile Organic Compounds [VOCs] and CO during combustion.
• While ULSD could be used in all vehicles formerly using conventional diesel, its low sulfur content also allows the introduction of pollution-reducing equipment like particulate traps and tail pipe catalyst technology, which would be damaged by high level of sulfur. This equipment can reduce emissions to levels well below those offered by the use of ULSD alone.