The European Union member states passed a law yesterday, which will help in preserving the environment. According to the law, all new petrol stations will have to install ‘stage II petrol vapor recovery systems’ during construction. The system works by sucking up dangerous petrol vapor out of the car’s fuel tank, replaces it with liquid fuel, and drains it into a separate store. The removal of the petrol vapor is necessary as it contains carcinogenic benzene and hydrocarbon gases, which are potentially harmful.
As for the already existing stations, they will have to install the system whenever they undertake a major renovation. Under this new law, only small petrol stations that distribute less than 500,000 liters per year will be excused. While for petrol stations that distribute over 3 million liters per year, it is mandatory to install the new equipment by 2018, irrespective of whether they have undergo a refurbishment or not.
The new law that aspires to protect human health and the environment by reducing the amount of vapor released into the atmosphere is all set to bring the law into effect by the beginning of 2012.
Image Credit: MSN
Via: EarthTimes