The ACFA Publication

China's auto industry, the 2nd most important pillar for the country's economic development after the real estate sector, has achieved exceptional growth results over the past two decades. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) statistical yearbook, total automobile production and vehicle sales in China have increased tenfold. The number of vehicles sold in 2001 was 2.37 million units, which more than doubled to 5.76 million by 2005 and reached 18.06 million in 2010. 24.6 million units were sold in 2015, rising to 26.27 million in 2021 as the country recovered from its 2020 COVID-19 slowdown. According to data from the traffic administration department of the Ministry of Public Security, the number of motor vehicles in China in 2021 was 395 million, of which 300 million were cars.

In October 2020 a study about “The harm of gasoline blended with Methylal” was published by China’s Chemicalbook Inc., which is regarded as on the country’s most-visited and largest professional platforms on chemical services. The findings of the report were exposed in CCTV's 3.15 party TV show. In response to the "Methylal Blended Gasoline" documentary exposed by the 3.15 party, "China Consumer News Auto Weekly" conducted and published their investigations about "Methylal Blended Gasoline" through a series of investigations and interviews.

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This issue of In Focus reflects on the 2021 World Air Quality Report conducted by IQAir in March 2022. The survey, which reports on PM2.5 air quality results, is based on measurements and data collected in over 6400 cities in almost 120 countries worldwide.

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In this issue of In Focus, we look at the potential impact of the recent oil and energy price rally on gasoline demand and our industry. Governments around the world are considering various measures to combat the looming energy crisis, mainly caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In this ‘In Focus’ newsletter we would like to focus on the “Cleaner Fuels for a More Sustainable Future” study published by the Indonesian Institute of Energy Economics (IIEE) in 2021. The study forms part of a larger research study titled “Strategy to Fulfil Fuel Supply in Indonesia to Comply with Euro 4 Vehicle Standards” conducted by the IIEE last year, which identified three major issues as reasons for the delay in the rollout of the plan and made some recommendations on how to tackle the issues. The Asian Clean Fuels Association contributed to the study.

In this ‘In Focus’ newsletter we would like to draw our readers’ attention to a joined opinion statement issued by Clean Air Asia (CAA) and the Asian Clean Fuels Association (ACFA), in which both organizations highlight their observations and express their concerns related the use of coal to fuel Asia’s energy demand.

In this issue of our “In Conversation with” we talked to Mr. Jeff Hove, acting Vice President and Executive Director at the Fuels Institute. In recent years we have seen some initiatives to consider policies to ban the sale of vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines (ICE), predominantly emerging in Europe, but also spreading out in parts of Asia.

In March 2019 the Australian government released new fuel standards, set for implementation by 01-Oct 2019. At the time the release of the new requirements, after a three-year long review, was widely described as a major disappointment by clean fuels proponents and supporters, as the authorities missed the opportunity to align Australian standards with other developed markets by enhancing standards only cosmetically, not even matching long out-of-date Euro III standards for some parameters in the revised specifications.  

In this issue of our newsletter, ACFA would like to draw our readers’ attention to our European sister company Sustainable Fuels and their 2050 Vision, which outlines the pathway towards sustainable and clean mobility, as Europe strives to have a climate neutral economy by 2050.