Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles
Fact Sheet
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC
February 26, 2007
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FEATURED RESULT: "With the assistance of the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles and the World Bank, all 49 Sub-Saharan African countries stopped refining and importing leaded gasoline by the end of 2005, positively affecting 733 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa." |
Purpose of Initiative
The Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles is helping to reduce vehicular air pollution in developing countries by promoting the elimination of lead in gasoline and the reduction of sulfur in fuels, as well as encouraging the adoption of cleaner vehicle technologies. Phasing lead out of gasoline, and eliminating human exposure to lead, has an immediate effect on the health of millions of people, as does reducing sulfur in fuels. This global partnership, with members from governments, international organizations, industry and civil society, was launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in September 2002.
Partners
This initiative has a diverse array of over 85 partners from governments, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, and international organizations. For a complete and up-to-date partners list, please visit the partnership website at: www.unep.org/pcfv. As of September, 2006, partners include:
Government: Canadian International Development Agency; Chile National Commission on the Environment (CONAMA); China State Economic and Trade Commission; Corpaire -- Institution mandated by Ecuadorian Government for Air Quality Control; Democratic Republic of Congo -- Minist�re de l'Environnement, Conservation de la Nature, Eaux et For�ts; Environment Australia; Environment Canada; Ghana Environmental Protection Agency; Indonesian Ministry of Environment; Israel Ministry of the Environment; Italy Ministry of Environment and Territory; Kenya National Environment Management Authority; Mexico Office for Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT); Mexico Instituto Nacional de Ecologia (INE); Mozambique Ministry for Coordination of Environmental Affairs; Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment; Nigeria Federal Ministry of Environment; Nigeria Ministry of Industry; Somali Ministry of Environment and Disaster Management; South Africa Department of Minerals and Energy; Thailand Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; the United States of America (Department of Energy; Environmental Protection Agency; and the Agency for International Development); and Yemen Environment Protection Authority.
Civil Society: Blacksmith Institute; Centre for Science and Environment; Energy and Environment Savings Ventures; Environmental Defense; Environmental and Energy Technology and Policy Institute; Environmental Liaison Centre International; FIA Foundation; Forum for the Environment; Global Environment and Technology Foundation; Institute of Environmental Studies (IES), Alabania; Kulkulkan Foundation; Komite Penghapusan Bensin Bertimbel (KPPB); Lawyers' Environmental Action Team; Natural Resources Defense Council; Regional Environment Center for Central and Eastern Europe; Southern Centre for Energy and Environment; The LEAD Group; Trust For Lead Poisoning Prevention; Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Chandra Prakesh; Daedalus LLC; Jane Armstrong; Mike Walsh; Miriam Lev-on; TPG; Wellela German;
Private Sector: Afton Chemicals; American Petroleum Industry; Asian Clean Fuels Association; BP America, Inc.; European Fuel Oxygenates Association; International Fuel Quality Center; International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association; Japan Petroleum Energy Center; Lubrizol Corporation; Petrobras; Petroleum Institute of East Africa; Tracerco, U.K.; Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers; American Honda; Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA); Association for Emissions Control by Catalyst (AECC); Association of International Automobile Manufacturers; Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA); Engine Manufacturers Association; International Truck and Engine; Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association; Manufacturers of Emission Control Association; National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA); Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA); Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers; and TPG/TN
International Organizations: Central American Commission on Environment and Development; Pan-American Health Organization; Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe; UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs; UN Environment Programme; Association of Southeast Asian National (ASEAN) Working Group; and Clean Air Initiative- Asia.
Partnership Targets
The Partnership has two key goals:
- Eliminate lead in gasoline worldwide; and
- Reduce sulfur in diesel and gasoline fuels, along with adoption of cleaner vehicle technologies.
Progress Toward Targets
Eliminate Leaded Fuel: Due in large part to the efforts of the partnership, as of January, 2006, all of the 49 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have stopped refining and importing leaded gasoline. The elimination of lead in gasoline will improve the health of millions of people in Africa, particularly children, who are disproportionately affected by exposure to lead.
At the fourteenth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (May 1-12, 2006) the Partnership launched a global lead phase-out campaign, targeted at the countries that still use lead in gasoline as an octane booster. One key country was Indonesia, the 4th most populous country in the world. In a recent statement, the Government of Indonesia announced that as of July 1, 2006, it stopped adding lead to gasoline. In addition, Croatia, Syria and Turkey also announced that in 2006 they had phased out lead in gasoline. The Partnership is now working with the remaining 22 countries to develop action plans and incentives for elimination of lead in gasoline. The goal of this effort is global elimination of leaded fuel by the end of 2008.
Reduce Sulfur: The Partnership has a goal of reducing sulfur in fuels globally to less than 50 parts per million, adopted in December 2005. Activities to achieve this goal include development of a partnership sulfur document; hosting regional, sub-regional and national fuels and vehicles workshops; and through demonstration retrofit projects, designed to show the benefits of advanced emission control technologies combined with ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel in older diesel vehicles.
To demonstrate the benefits of ultra-low sulfur fuel, combined with emissions reduction technologies, EPA initiated diesel retrofit demonstration projects in Beijing, China; Bangkok, Thailand; Mexico City, Mexico; Pune, India; and Santiago, Chile during 2005 and 2006. In Mexico City, for example, the fine particulate matter and other emissions from older diesel-powered vehicles are known to be a major cause of air pollution, which poses serious public health concerns. To address this problem, EPA completed its first international retrofit project, in collaboration with the World Resources Institute/EMBARQ, the Mexico City government, the Mexican Ministry for Environment and Natural Resources, the Mexico City Center for Sustainable Transport, with industry, NGO partners and USAID. The pilot project reduced particulate emissions by over 90%, and up to 98% in many cases, from those city buses retrofitted with the most advanced emission control technologies, combined with the use of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. As a follow-on to the Mexican pilot project, partners in the Mexico City project co-hosted a workshop on clean diesel, in November 2006, that included training on retrofitting vehicles and on developing a SmartWay program for taking measures to improve fuel economy and emissions reductions in the freight sector.
Following the extremely successful heavy-duty diesel retrofit demonstration project in Mexico City, several workshops, and a cost-benefit analysis, Mexico adopted ultra-low sulfur fuel standards in January, 2006, which are due to be implemented starting in M�xico's border regions with the U.S. in January, 2007, and major metropolitan areas in 2009, and across Mexico in 2010. In 2006, fuels and vehicles workshops took place in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central America, and South America. Successful workshops serve as the platform from which further fuel reduction activities are launched and implemented, including adoption of ultra-low sulfur fuel policies.
USEPA is collaborating with China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) on a comprehensive set of fuels and vehicles projects, designed to provide support to China as they institute new, cleaner vehicle and fuel standards. One of the projects entails a diesel retrofit demonstration of 25 city buses in Beijing, similar to that which took place in Mexico City. The partnership anticipates that the Beijing retrofit project, for which the testing should be complete by mid to late 2007, will produce similar results as those in Mexico City. The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau is a partner in this project. EPA is also consulting with SEPA on a low sulfur fuel strategy for China, and jointly conducted a highly successful compliance workshop on fuels and vehicles in Beijing iin December 2006.
IIn April, 2006, EPA and officials from India, Maharashtra State, and the City of Pune officially launched the Pune Heavy-Duty Diesel Retrofit demonstration project to demonstrate how the combined use of diesel retrofit technologies and cleaner fuels can perform when applied to existing Indian buses, operating in conditions specific to India. Test results will be available in 2007.
Next Steps
Partnership Publications:
- Sulfur and its Impact on Emissions (February 2007)
Calendar of Events:
- Fifth Global Partnership Meeting: February 2007, Quito, Ecuador
- Latin America Sulfur workshop, February 2007, Quito, Ecuador
- Colombia National workshop on sulfur in fuels, March 2007
- National fuels workshop in Yemen, April 2007
- Launch of the Partnership Sulfur Document, May 2007
- East Africa sub-regional fuels workshop, Nairobi, Spring 2007.
- Launch of 2-stroke retrofit project in Pune, India, Spring 2007.
Resources
To date, the United States government has contributed over $3.1 million to the partnership, including funding for the Partnership Clearinghouse as well as on-the-ground projects. Other partners (Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, IPIECA, UNEP, the FIA Foundation and Exxon Mobil) are also contributing financial, staff and other in-kind resources.
USG Primary Points of Contact: Jane Metcalfe, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Phone: 202-564-6451; email: Metcalfe.jane@epa.gov) and Dennis Leaf, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Phone: 202/343-9287; email: leaf.dennis@epa.gov
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