43
FUELS & LUBES INTERNATIONAL
Quarter Three 2014
At the SAE World Con-
gress recently held in Detroit,
Mich., U.S.A., Timothy Johnson,
director, emerging technolo-
gies and regulations, of Corn-
ing, N.Y.-based Corning, Inc.,
presented a paper providing an
overview of the major world-
wide regulatory developments,
fuel trends and new engine and
emission control technologies
that are emerging to keep pace
with emissions standards.
First, the paper provided an
overview of developments in
emissions regulations in 2013,
as well as anticipated regula-
tory activities in the future. In
2013, progress was ongoing in
emissions regulations programs
under the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) light-
duty, Tier 3 emission standards
and the European light-duty,
Real-Driving Emissions (RDE).
Additionally, many new
regulatory activities occurred
in countries such as China and
India, with exploding popula-
tion growth and increasing air
quality concerns.
The Chinese population is
increasingly aware of the serious
health hazards of pollution, and
much air quality data is now
public. Therefore, people moni-
tor air quality along with weath-
er reports. China has responded
to the worldwide recognition of
its air quality challenges with
high-level actions on vehicular
emissions. Additionally, the
international community is
more involved in offering sup-
port to China regarding these
challenges than ever before,
including the World Bank and
the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP).
Therefore, recent Chinese
actions on vehicular emissions
regulations have been fairly
comprehensive. Such actions
include, but are not limited
to, the state council creating a
clean fuels plan that requires
gasoline and diesel fuels with a
maximum of 10 parts per mil-
lion (ppm) sulfur by the end of
2017 for minor regions. Major
region regulations are even more
aggressive, requiring 10 ppm
sulfur fuels by 2015. Beijing is
leading in the implementation of
emissions standards and already
requires 10 ppm sulfur for both
gasoline and diesel fuel. After
January 1, 2015, only China V
trucks and buses with diesel par-
ticulate filters can be sold in Beijing.
Additionally, Beijing is considering
implementing California or U.S.
EPA standards in 2016.
In India, the planning com-
mission tasked with drawing
a road map till 2025 recently
recommended the adoption of
50 ppm sulfur fuels countrywide
by 2015-16 and 10 ppm sulfur
fuels by 2020.
With an eye towards this
ever-changing international reg-
ulatory environment, Johnson’s
presentation at the SAE Con-
gress provides a useful overview
of recent and emerging advances
in the areas of fuels, engine
development, diesel NOx emis-
sion control, particulate filters,
oxidation catalysts and gasoline
gaseous emissions control.
Regarding fuels, Johnson
outlined several expected devel-
opments in production levels,
demand, type and quality over
the next decade and into the
future. Along with a significant
shift in the dominant world pro-
duction regions, fuel production
levels are expected to increase
significantly. A significant
shift is also expected in fuel
demand with demand for diesel
far outpacing gasoline. Increas-
ing both heavy-duty diesel fuel
prices and natural gas produc-
tion is expected to create new
interest in vehicles powered by
natural gas and other alternative
fuels. Additionally, improving
fuel quality will have a positive
impact on emissions. Various
gasoline and diesel fuel proper-
ties, such as sulfur, cetane, poly-
aromatic hydrocarbons, density
and volatility have a significant
impact on emissions.
New developments in oil ex-
traction technologies, especially
in the areas of deep water explo-
ration and hydraulic fracturing
are projected to bring about
an 8% increase in oil supply
through 2025. This increase in
supply will primarily come from
deep-water exploration off the
coast of Brazil, North American
shale oil and Canadian oil sands.
Meanwhile, conventional pro-
duction is expected to decline.
Therefore, the Americas will
surpass the Middle East in oil
production over the next several
years. According to the BP Sta-
tistical Review of World Energy,
North America will become a
Along with a significant shift in the dominant
world production regions, fuel production
levels are expected to increase significantly.
In an ever-evolving international
landscape rife with constant
regulatory changes, fuel quality
differences and diversemarket require-
ments, compliance with emissions reg-
ulations is a constantlymoving target
for the vehicle industry. However, the
industry has been quicklymaking sig-
nificant strides in developing new tech-
nologies tomeet these demands.
