[sustran] Two-strokes doomed by regulations

Craig Townsend townsend at central.murdoch.edu.au
Sat Dec 18 07:24:25 JST 1999


>From The Bangkok Post, 17 December 1999

Two-strokes doomed by regulations: End of the road for smoke-belchers

Anchalee Kongrut

Two-stroke engined motorcycles, considered a major cause of urban air
pollution, will be phased out when the government starts applying new and
tougher emission standards on motorcycle manufacturers next year.

Supat Wangwongwatana, head of the Pollution Control Department's air
quality and noise management division, said the new emission standard for
motorcycles was expected to be in place next year.

The new regulations, with tougher requirements for clean emissions would
make it impossible both "technically and economically" to manufacture
two-stroke motorcycle engines, Mr Supat said.

Two-stroke engines produce white exhaust fumes which are more hazardous to
health than four-stroke engines. The current standard sets the maximum
level of carbon monoxide (CO) in exhaust pipe emissions at 13
grammes/kilometre, and at 5g/km for hydrocarbon (HC).

The new standard-the fourth to be enforced-seeks to reduce the CO emission
level to 4.5 g/km and the HC level to 3 g/km.

Hydrocarbon emissions from two-stroke engines can be reduced to 3g/km at
most, while emissions from four-stroke engines can be lowered to 0.8-1 g/km.

"Most two-stroke motorcycle engines now comply with the current third
emission standard, but once the government introduces a tougher emission
control, it is very likely that two-stroke engined motorcycles will be
completely phased out," said Vallop Tiasiri, head of the Thai Kawasaki Motors.

The third standard was already tough for two-stroke engine manufacturers,
Mr Supat said.

Statistics showed the number of four-stroke motorcycles on the kingdom's
roads has increased since the third emission standard was introduced in 1995.

In 1994, the growth rate of four-stroke models was only two percent.

Before 1994, the emission standard in Thailand was quite lax and two-stroke
motorcycles dominated the Thai market. Five years after the third standard
was launched, the number of four-stroke engined motorcycles increased by 43%.

Mr Vallop, also vice president for technical development at the Automotive
Industry Association, conceded that four-stroke motorcycles had only been
introduced here in recent years.

Two-stroke motorcycles are expected to become "extinct" in Thailand with
the launch of the fifth emission standard in 2003.

________________________________________________
Craig Townsend
Institute for Sustainability & Technology Policy
Murdoch University
South Street, Murdoch
Perth, Western Australia 6150

tel: (61 8) 9360 6293
fax: (61 8) 9360 6421
email: townsend at central.murdoch.edu.au



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