What goes in, must come out

The fuels that dominate the mobility landscape today are derived from oil. But while petrol and diesel will continue to play an important part in mobility over the next few decades, improved catalytic converter systems and innovative drive technologies call for fuels capable of satisfying the stricter requirements for vehicle emissions. Improvements such as a global reduction in sulphur and aromatics content will lead to a significant reduction in emissions. In addition, new direct-injection engine technologies such as the FSI® and TDI® will be rolled out worldwide. These are proven technologies which bring about a substantial reduction in both fuel consumption and exhaust emissions.

Optimization of fuels is therefore of vital importance, since this has a direct impact on cars running on combustible fuels and, as a consequence, on improving emission levels. By modifying the composition as well as the physical and chemical properties of the fuels, it is possible to reduce the emission of unburned hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides and carbon monoxide. A lower aromatics content leads to a reduced discharge of soot particles, and a lower sulphur content allows for more efficient and innovative exhaust gas after-treatment systems, such as the NOx storage catalytic converter.