Australia initiating emission and fuel standards review
16 June 2003
The Australian Motor Vehicle Environment Committee (MVEC) started a review process of emissions and fuel regulations to assess which vehicle emission and fuel standards would be appropriate for Australia in the latter part of this decade.
In line with the policy to harmonize Australian vehicle emissions standards with Euro standards, the review will assess the merits of adopting Euro 4 emission standards for light duty gasoline, LPG and NG vehicles and Euro 5 emission standards for heavy-duty diesel, LPG and NG vehicles. Four future scenarios have been proposed for discussion, starting with the current status-quo as Option 1, through the most aggressive Option 4, which includes the following components:
- Euro 4 for gasoline, LPG and NG light vehicles (2008/09)
- 50 ppm sulfur limit for gasoline in 2008
- 10 ppm sulfur limit for gasoline in 2010
- Euro 5 for diesel, LPG and NG heavy vehicles (2009/10)
- 10 ppm sulfur limit for diesel
The review, known as the “MVEC Vehicle Emissions and Fuel Standards Review”, is jointly managed by the Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) and Environment Australia (EA). Key issues on the future standards are outlined in the MVEC Discussion Paper published last month. Comments from stakeholders are accepted by Friday 11 July 2003.
Vehicle emission standards currently adopted in Australia include Euro 3 limits for gasoline cars effective 2005/6 and Euro 4 limits for all types of highway diesel vehicles and engines effective 2006/2007.
Source: Department of Transport | MVEC web site | MVEC Discussion Paper