Get The Lead Out!
Wasted Petrol Continues to Poison the World

Leave lead and MTBE out, use the carbon for material goods, and clean the air with hydrogen.

by Roy McAlister, President
The Hydrogen Association

Vehicle pollution is increasing in all populated areas. Developing economies are rapidly increasing the amount of air and water pollution from vehicle exhausts. In 1971, vehicle pollution accounted for only 24% of India's environmental degradation. India's motor vehicles now produce about 67% of the pollution in this highly populated country that will double the number of vehicles in a decade.

Particularly troublesome is the fact that much of the environmental pollution will source long-term health problems including heavy metal poisoning of children. Our ultimate investment in the vitality and intelligent progress that future generations must provide is in jeopardy. By 100 B.C., Greek physicians had described lead poisoning. Lead poisoning of children causes hypertension, development problems, and intelligence loss. Lead also poisons catalytic reactors and defeats the intended and much needed purpose of reducing concentrations of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen monoxide in the exhaust of vehicles that use hydrocarbon fuels. A prevalent source of lead is a metal organic compound called tetraethyl lead (TEL). It was developed by General Motors in the 1920's and TEL has eventually sourced 90% of the world's lead pollution. TEL is marketed as an additive to prevent the least expensive refinery gasoline from causing valve-seat recession and piston knock in high compression engines.

Vehicles in Mexico City pollute the air and water with daily emissions of some 32 tons of lead. In Nigeria, roadside lead contamination of 6,000 ppm has been measured. Children may suffer hearing loss, reduced attention span, and learning disabilities if exposed to 600 ppm lead levels.

Even though hardened valve seats and cleaner burning fuels with no knock tenancies were well known since 1920 (including hydrogen, methane, propane butane, and fuel alcohols) General Motors, DuPont, and Standard Oil united against the use of these less expensive fuels while they created a giant market for leaded gasoline. Leaded gasoline still supplies 94% of the fuel requirements for vehicles in the Middle East, 93% of the needs of African motorists, 35% of the market in South America, and over 30% of the vehicle fuel in Asia. Every gallon of oil that has been wasted as fuel could have been used to produce over $34 worth of recyclable durable goods such as clothing, computers, and vehicle components.

After acquiring catalytic reactor technology, General Motors lobbied for U.S. phaseout of lead in gasoline which began in 1975 and was nearly accomplished by the end of 1986. During this phaseout, lead in human blood samples declined about 78%. U.K. efforts to prevent lead from accumulating in human tissues began in the late 1980's and blood-lead levels have declined about 66% in the last decade. These successes have encouraged the European Union to ban leaded gasoline beginning in 2000. There are three remaining large-scale sources of TEL which are located in Britain, Germany and Russia. Octel, a company that supplies much of the world market with TEL, reported in an SEC filing that between 1985 and 1995 it was able to offset the loss of the large U.S. market by higher pricing and increased sales to developing countries. (India increased the allowable TEL from 0.22 to 0.56 grams/liter!)

Public safety is depressed to second standing, at best, while quick-profit motives prevail. State-owned Petroleos de Venezuela exported lead-free gasoline through the 1990's while importing shiploads of TEL gasoline additive for domestic fuel sales. (Venezuela has finally initiated a phaseout of leaded gasoline.)

Today America's potable waters are increasingly contaminated with MTBE, another gasoline additive.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PETROL, IS THERE A BETTER WAY TO FUEL VEHICLES? The discovery of oil and other fossil hydrocarbons including coal and natural gas has fueled much of the tremendous progress of the Industrial Revolution. Of ultimate importance, however, is new technology that provides the option for dividing each gallon of oil or similar hydrocarbons from renewable sources into nearly five pounds of carbon for making superior durable goods and one pound of hydrogen. Engines converted to hydrogen operation can provide an exhaust that has lower concentrations of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and particulates than the air that enters the engine. We have a demonstration plant that will supply 200 buses with hydrogen from sewage, garbage, and/or farm wastes. We provide technology transfers to communities that aspire to achieve sustainable prosperity without pollution. See our Tesy small scale system

To get more information about the merits of Hydrogen go to:  http://www.clean-air.org/  This article is shamelessly lifted from this wonderful website!