Lord Bradshaw – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2014-04-03.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they have as to whether the origin or formulation of the diesel oil used has any bearing on the amount of particulates which are trapped in particulate filters fitted to road vehicles.

Baroness Kramer

The formulation of diesel fuel can have an effect upon the amount of particulate matter formed during combustion. There is evidence, for instance that biodiesel blends produce slightly less particulate matter, in general, than do pure petroleum-based diesel fuels. We would not, however, expect the differences in rates of particulate formation between fuels meeting the statutory requirements of the Motor Fuels (Composition and Content) Regulations, and meeting the EN 590 industry standard to affect the operation of diesel particulate filters.