§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Energy whether he received any advice from the oil companies concerning the introduction of lead-free petrol prior to the Government's decision to reduce lead levels in petrol to 0.15 grammes per litre; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GrayFor their own technical and cost reasons, the oil companies indicated a preference for introducing lead free petrol with reduced octane, retaining current fuels for existing cars.
We did, however, decide to move by 31 December 1985 to low lead petrol with maintained octane—that is, petrol suitable for all existing cars—which will, at that date, achieve an immediate two-thirds reduction in the amount of petrol lead emitted to the environment. The benefits of lead-free petrol, on the other hand, would build up gradually and over a much longer timescale because it would only be suitable for engines specially designed to burn it.