Oil

Constantly evolving standards

Fuels differ from one country to another based, among other things, on the specific requirements of each climate. The ability of diesel fuels to withstand cold, for example, is a key factor in Scandinavian countries.

In several of the world's regions, particularly the European Union, regulations have sharply tightened fuel specifications, notably by eliminating lead and steadily reducing benzene and sulfur content. Boosting the percentage of biofuels in blends, the entry into force of the European Union's new Euro 5 and Euro 6 standards, in 2011 and 2015 respectively, and the upcoming move to set per-kilometer carbon emission standards are part of the same trend.

Yet two major product categories still dominate the European market. Unleaded gasoline first hit the pumps in 1985. The SP98, SP97 and SP91 premium grades, which have different octane numbers, are also sold alongside the benchmark SP95 (or Eurosuper), depending on the country. Diesel fuel has been on the ascendant the last several years. In some countries, among them France, nearly 70% of registered vehicles run on diesel.

Muscular R&D to get a jump on market expectations

Total Refining & Marketing employs more than 500 researchers and technicians, mainly in our three research centers in Feluy, Belgium, and Gonfreville and Solaize, France. Their missions are to optimize production processes, formulate finished products, conduct combustion studies and engine trials, test new additives, and model air emissions and environmental impact.

Each additive has a specific function. And their effectiveness depends on which molecules are used in what proportions.

Every one-point gain in performance, each reduction in consumption and every emission avoided is the work of these experts, who collaborate closely with a number of partners, including automakers, original equipment manufacturers, universities and research organizations.

Total's Excellium line of high-performance, next-generation gasoline and diesel fuel

Introduced in 2005 and now available in several European countries and Turkey, the Excellium line of gasoline and diesel fuels features real differences from standard quality products. Using Excellium fuels improves economy noticeably for both city and highway driving, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and makes engines run better without undermining their long-term performance. Excellium diesel fuel also lowers diesel engine ignition and warm-up noise.

Suitable for all vehicles now on the road, Total Excellium fuels achieve their full potential when used in conjunction with direct gasoline injection and high-pressure common rail diesel injection technologies.

What sets them apart are the innovative additives developed by our teams, including a friction modifier that curbs engine friction loss, high-end detergent molecules that keep the sensitive components of modern engines clean and a combustion enhancer, procetane, that improves the cold idling for diesel vehicles.

Excellium fuels have undergone a full battery of tests to demonstrate their effectiveness, conducted with a number of automakers and users. Since the launch in late 2008 of Total Excellium Truck Diesel 10 ppm, an ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, truck fleets have their own dedicated fuel.

Developing the fuels of the future

Total has more than 15 years of experience with both main families of first-generation biofuels: ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE), which is blended into gasoline, and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), for diesel vehicles.

The top biofuel marketer in Europe, we tailor our logistics to European Union directives, which call for a gradual ramp-up in the percentage of biofuels in products distributed in the market.

We are also very active in the development of second-generation biofuels , which are made by converting the non-food parts of plants. In partnership with crop, wood, agri-food waste and other bioresource producers, researchers and manufacturers, we are investing in the fine-tuning of new biomass treatment processes. Several avenues are currently being explored, including biomass to liquids (BTL), synthetic biodiesel (NExBTL) blendable in any proportion with first-generation biofuels and fossil-based fuels, biocrude produced by means of biowaste pyrolysis, and bioethanol made by the enzymatic conversion of plant cellulose, straw or wood.

Our projects in this area are designed to meet three requirements: cutting costs, further shrinking our environmental footprint, and establishing sustainable and fully acceptable production processes.

We are also very involved in promoting two other future processes. Total is the most advanced oil company in terms of dimethyl ether (DME) , a clean-burning gas that is biodegradable in the air and has real potential as a fuel. In 2008, we joined a European consortium that is testing ways to produce bio-DME from pulp residue in Sweden.

Our teams are also helping to advance the hydrogen fuel process and develop the fuel cell technologies to optimize its efficiency. Also in 2008, in the latest step forward in our hydrogen partnership with BMW, we opened Europe's first superhighway hydrogen filling station, in Belgium.