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Tell me what do you think of Malaysia's 'latest' idea. Greener fuel in your tank 11 Feb 2007 Elizabeth John and Yamin Vong -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KUALA LUMPUR: You will be breathing cleaner air sooner than you think. Thanks to new government regulations, drivers and motorcyclists in Malaysia will be filling up with cleaner petrol and diesel by end of next month. The new fuel will have lower levels of sulphur ? the sulphur content in diesel will go down from 0.3 per cent to 0.05 per cent, and for petrol, the reduction will be from 0.15 per cent to 0.05 per cent. This means that motor vehicles will be spewing less of the environmentally hazardous sulphur dioxide which contributes to respiratory illness and the formation of acid rain. ?The quality of diesel that we are using is far below international standards,? Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid told the New Sunday Times. ?The Cabinet has approved our move to get all oil companies in Malaysia to adhere to the new standards.? "We may have to pay a little more but it is better to pay now than to pay later to cover health costs and damage to the environment," said Azmi. An industry source said it would cost 3 or 4 sen more per litre. Diesel now costs RM1.58 per litre, and petrol RM1.92. Datuk Rosnani Ibarahim, the director-general of the Department of Environment, said they had been working with oil companies on the improvements for some time. "We are working towards making this a regulation (under the Environment Quality Act) by end of next month. "At present, we are going by the MS123 standard for diesel fuel and MS118 for petrol, which are inferior." The new fuel standard will be similar to the Euro II emission standard set by the European Union that limits the amount of pollutants that can be released into the environment. "We are prepared to go Euro II any time the government wants," said a Petronas senior manager, who did not want to be identified. "It just means a bit more refining of the feedstock." Vicky Lee, the fuels development manager of Shell Malaysia, said: "We will comply with the government?s regulations on Euro II and work towards the deadline." Industry observers said the local industry had been aware of the move to Euro II and that the indication was that it would not be later than March.