Leaded petrol replacement to go on sale from Thursday

Lead replacement petrol (LRP), which will power vehicle engines instead of leaded fuel, will go on sale at all service stations as from Thursday.

Economic Services Minister Josef Bonnici said yesterday that leaded petrol would be phased out by the end of this year as part of a strategy to ban the use of lead in petrol.

A considerable number of vehicles in Malta are unable to run on unleaded petrol. But they will be able to remain in operation, with the use of LRP.

Enemalta chairman Robert Ghirlando told a news conference that 40 per cent of total fuel sales involved leaded petrol.

LRP is unleaded petrol mixed with a special additive. The fuel will be delivered ready mixed to petrol stations.

LRP can be mixed with leaded petrol and it is not necessary to empty the fuel tank of a car that takes leaded petrol before filling it with LRP, Prof. Ghirlando said.

LRP will be sold at the same price as leaded petrol, that is, three cents per litre more than unleaded petrol.

Leaded petrol will no longer be available after the first two weeks of January, when the current stock is expected to run out.

Prof. Ghirlando defended the corporation's reputation against the accusation of being a major polluter, saying that Enemalta had invested in precipitators to clean emissions from power stations, was carrying out frequent monitoring, and was now using better quality fuels.

Prof. Bonnici said he was happy to end the year with a concrete move which would benefit the environment.

Tests carried out over the years have shown that lead in the air had been caused by vehicle emissions.

Asked whether the government intended to take parallel action and eliminate diesel, Prof. Bonnici explained that drastic steps had been taken in the last few years to eliminate its harmful content.

He said the sulphur content had been reduced to less than one tenth its previous level.

Prof. Bonnici said that one had to bear in mind that diesel was still one of the most economically feasible fuels.