FQMS - Fuel quality monitoring system 2008

According to the European Fuel Quality Directive EU Directive 98/70/EC, Member States must annually review and report compliance with environmental quality standards for fuels within the framework of the Fuel Quality Monitoring System (FQMS). Since 2003, the Federal Environment Agency has been carrying out these quality controls in Austria. In 2008, around 7.92 million tonnes of fuel were sold in Austria, of which 6.1 million tonnes (approximately 77 %) were diesel fuels. A total of 303 filling stations were sampled throughout Germany, 150 of them in the winter and 153 in the summer. Diesel fuel has been tested for compliance with ON EN 590 and petrol fuel has been tested for compliance with ON EN 228. Seven deviations of the standard parameters were found: Five exceedances of the maximum vapour pressure and each one below the Research Oct number and the engine Oct number.