Brussels, 04/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 4 December, the European Commission presented a proposal for a directive aimed at ensuring the capture and recycling of harmful petrol vapour which escapes during the refuelling of cars at service stations. In practical terms, petrol pumps in many service stations across the EU will need to be fitted with equipment that can recover 85% or more of this vapour. Petrol vapour contains benzene, which is known to cause cancer and contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone (“smog”) which is one of the air pollutants most damaging to human health and the environment.
The proposed directive consists in extending to the whole of the EU the installation of Stage II Petrol Vapour Recovery (PVR) systems, which are already in service in nearly half of member states. The PVR-Stage II system captures harmful vapours released during refuelling by creating a vacuum to suck back the vapour through the dispensing hose and nozzle, either to the station's underground storage tank or directly back to the fuel pump. This latter technology is newer and does not require any modification of the underground pipe work of the service station.
With the proposed directive, petrol pumps in all newly built or recently restored service stations with an output above 500 m3 of petrol per year should be equipped with the PVR Stage-II systems. All service stations, whatever their size, located below residential property, should also be fitted with the system. Larger existing service stations, with an output of over 3 000 m3 per year, should also apply PVR-Stage II by 2020. (O.L./transl.jl)