The Ministry of Transport announced that it is working on completing the requirements necessary for switching the buses and trucks to eco-friendly, ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD), in collaboration with the Qatar General Organization for Standards and Metrology (QS), the General Directorate of Traffic, QatarEnergy and several other relevant entities.
This comes in the context of the Ministry's policy for using clean diesel fuel, equivalent to the EURO 5 diesel, on all Qatar's imports of buses and trucks, starting with the models manufactured for 2023.Qatar Energy will provide all transportation sector's needs of EURO5-equivalent diesel fuel to be used on many buses and trucks countrywide, thus significantly reducing carbon emissions and pollution.Such steps will promote the Transformation to Eco-Friendly Vehicles Strategy in Qatar. They also contribute to upgrading the specifications of buses and trucks to using the clean diesel fuel equivalent to the EURO5 diesel, thus achieving environmental sustainability by rolling out more such clean technologies, fuels and electrical energy to reduce vehicle exhausts and harmful carbon emissions. This not only sets the stage for a cleaner, healthier and safer environment for current and coming generations, but eventually helps reduce greenhouse gases, combat climate change and maintain an economic-environmental balance.The EURO5-equivalnet diesel fuel provides for best standards, specifications and modern technologies. The goal is to reduce carbon emissions significantly and protect the environment. EURO5 standard for CO does not exceed 1.5%, maximum diesel sulfur content of 10 ppm and smoke opacity of 1.0-1.5 ppm compared to previous standards for buses and trucks compatible with EURO2-3 diesel, which causes more pollution because CO standard is up to 2.1%, smoke opacity is up to 0.46 ppm with a diesel sulfur content of as high as 500 ppm.Noteworthy, the Ministry of Transport had coordinated with the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) in developing a policy for electric and hybrid vehicles for the State of Qatar, aiming at securing the country's needs of clean energy permanently and regularly, in addition to identifying the alternatives to secure them, thus contributing effectively to achieving Qatar's 2nd National Development Strategy (2018- 2022) and QNV2030.