Petrol Faceoff: Gasoline Vs Diesel

Petroleum may have once saved the whales (before oil drilling started most of our oil came from whale blubber) but it's not an infinite resource either. Still, until the time most cars on our streets start running on greener fuels, motorists will have to decide what sort of fuel to put in their tanks.

Most cars run either on petrol or diesel; these fuels have trade-offs with regards to the type of emissions they make and their effects on human health and the atmosphere. Diesel's said to be the better choice from a climate-change point of view; diesel cars pump out less greenhouse gases for the same amount of output, particularly carbon dioxide which drives temperatures way up. That's because diesel engines perform with higher fuel efficiency, meaning your impact on the air is much less than with petrol. However, diesel creates more fine particles of uncompletely burned fuel and makes more nitrogen oxide, a major ingredient in urban smog.

Diesel particulates are especially hard on the lungs, having been shown to be related to respiratory ailments in the elderly and the young, increasing the chances of wheezing pedestrians and hanging around at low elevations for a longer time than petrol fumes. Diesel fumes can aggravate heart functions and cause premature heart attacks!


As for petrol, less noxious gases for the lungs are made, but it rates roughly at par with diesel for other health hazards such as carcinogens, tissue irritants and nervous system poisons.

Once stop-gap solution our current state of diesel technology allows is a particulate filter; lethal diesel fumes can be strained of much of their bad particles before they go out into the surrounding air. Whilst most car importers into Australia include a filter as a standard part, some high-profile manufacturers don't, so check for one before ticking off on the sales sheet. Still, this measure can only go so far and what's seriously needed is a better diesel engine system which is a couple of years away.

The green car campaign is not only for the next generation of car technology, it definitely starts in the here and now. Emissions standards must be constantly updated to keep up with ever-lower tolerance levels set in Europe and elsewhere.