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Kenya: Push for 'Clean Cars' Gets Tougher to Cut Emissions
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Business Daily (Nairobi)
24 April 2008
Posted to the web 24 April 2008
Zeddy Sambu
The war against noise and air pollution in the transport sector has shifted to cleaner vehicles, two years after the implementation of the clean fuels initiative that saw lead removed from petrol and sulphur content reduced in diesel.
Regular petrol driven vehicles are now expected to be fitted with catalytic converters that help remove nitrogen dioxide and other particulate matters from vehicle emissions.
"Having achieved lead-free gasoline in Kenya, catalytic converters can now be enforced as a first line of emission regulation for petrol-driven vehicles," says Mr George Wachira, the chief executive for the Petroleum Institute for East Africa (PIEA).
The ministry of energy has just published a draft air quality regulations that will be the starting point in defining emission level expectations from vehicles. The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) jointly with the Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs) is pushing for a 0.5 per cent reduction to 500 parts per million (ppms) of the harmful gas per cubic metres of diesel.
The United Nations lobby for Partnership For Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV) last week set the ball rolling towards achieving 'clean vehicles' during a meeting in Beijing.
The partnership works with the developing countries and the private sector industry players to phase out traces of sulphur in diesel and diesel fuels.
PIEA that represents oil marketers says Kenya should continue with efforts to reduce sulphur from diesel. If sulphur in diesel exceeds 500 ppms emission control technology fitted in new diesel vehicles will render the vehicles motionless.
That poses a challenge for diesel processed through the Kenya Petroleum Refineries that has 10,000 ppms, 20 times the recommended threshold.
Imported diesel is currently 5,000 ppms, but the plans is to move to 500 ppms by next January. The planned upgrade of the Mombasa refinery involves reduction of sulphur to 50 ppms.
"The future is about clean vehicles. We are pushing for new vehicles to be fitted with catalytic converters," said Wachira on phone. South Africa-Africa's economic power house has 500 ppms (0.05 per cent ) while the European standard is 15 ppms, that represents about 0.005 per cent. This means that Europe is already compliant to the ultra low sulphur diesel requirement. Low sulphur diesel has quantities below 50 ppms.
All new and second-hand vehicles imported into Kenya from mainly Europe and Japan have functional catalytic converters. Industry players, however, caution that attempts to freshen emissions on Kenyan roads will not achieve much until traffic snarl ups in urban areas are addressed.
"Exhaust fumes are more toxic during snarl ups. Our priority should be a solution to the traffic congestion," Gavin Bennet , a motoring expert says. "We must also reduce the number of vehicles in urban areas through public transport rationalisation," said Mr Wachira.
Up to 40 per cent of the estimated 750,000 in Kenya ply routes in the capital, Nairobi.
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Independent studies show that Kenya is losing Sh100 million everyday in traffic snarl ups that have become a permanent feature on most urban roads.
Automobiles, the studies show, use less fuel, emit less pollution and suffer least wear and tear while cruising at between 60 and 80 kph.
Motoring experts say a litre of petrol emits 2.5 kilogrammes of exhaust gas, meaning less fuel consumption equals less pollution of the environment.
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