Sasol senior technical adviser Adrian Velaers
Photo by: Duane Daws
While not able to speak on behalf of the industry, South Africa’s refineries are probably grappling with the question of whether they can afford to upgrade their facilities to produce cleaner diesel and petrol, or whether it is more cost-effective to close down, says Sasol senior technical adviser Adrian Velaers.
Speaking on Thursday at the Car Conference, held at the Festival of Motoring, at Kyalami, he said government’s proposed Clean Fuels 2 (CF 2) legislation would, for example, see sulphur content in diesel drop to 10 parts per million (ppm), as opposed to the currently allowed 500 ppm.
Velaers said it remained uncertain when the much-delayed CF 2 would be implemented.
National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) director Nico Vermeulen commented at the conference that South African fuel standards were more than a decade behind those of Europe and North America.
He said CF 2 was first set to be introduced in the middle of 2016, but that it had now been delayed to after 2020.
He emphasised that vehicle manufacturers in South Africa required cleaner fuels to provide local consumers with more efficient, greener vehicles. He said government had a responsibility to look after the health of its people and the environment.
He said there was currently “very little” debate on the effects of dirty fuel on people’s health.
Vermeulen also lamented the fact that government had implemented carbon dioxide tax on new vehicles sold in South Africa, but was not enabling the industry to provide new-technology, environment-friendly vehicles – requiring clean fuel – to consumers.