Asia's beloved three-wheelers are cleaning up their act

Asia's beloved three-wheelers are cleaning up their act

BANGKOK (AFP): "Tuk tuks", the three-wheeled vehicles
spluttering along the streets of many Asian cities, are cleaning
up their act and starting to comply with strict pollution
regulations, a conference heard on Wednesday.

Experts at the first Asian Vehicle Emission Control Conference
said motor vehicle emissions are the major cause of the choking
smog that blankets much of urban Asia and causes early death for
thousands.

But makers of three-wheelers and motorcycles told delegates
they are switching from fume-spewing two-stroke engines to more
environmentally friendly four strokes.

"We produce 15,000 three-wheelers a month, and they all used
to be two-strokes. But we are now shifting to four strokes so
that we will be in line with emission regulations coming in
2005," said Ashok Saxema, head of India-based Bajaj Auto, the
world's largest manufacturer of trikes.

Two-stroke engines are most common in Asia, home to 70 percent
of the world's motorcycles and three-wheelers that are mostly
powered by two-strokes -- cheaply manufactured, economical
engines that don't burn fuel as cleanly as the more complex four
strokes.

Bajaj Auto faces regulations put in place by the Indian
government that are reputed to be the toughest in the world for
two- and three-wheel vehicles. Even tighter regulations are
slated for 2005 and 2007.

Smog from motorcycles and three-wheelers makes up about 40
percent of all vehicle pollution in India. Basic two-strokes are
banned in Delhi, so Bajaj makes a special natural gas model for
the city.

And in 1999 the company began fitting some three-wheelers with
catalytic converters -- devices that alter exhaust chemicals to
make them less harmful.

Still, Bajaj Auto has for years made three-wheelers powered by
the dirty two-stroke engines for export. The company sells them
in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Peru, Argentina and Mexico, where
regulations are more lax.

"I think it's best to go to four-stroke, but in a country that
doesn't have money, the two-stroke is definitely cheaper," said
director of technical development at U.S. pollution control firm
Engelhard John J. Mooney.

In China, the government will introduce regulations on
pollution from two-strokes in Beijing this year and plans to
extend them to the rest of the country in January 2002.

"By 2002 we will be up to European standards," said Bai Jian
Ting, senior engineer at China Qingqi Group Co. which is China's
largest manufacturer of two-stroke motorcycles.

Anti-pollution legislation for motorcycles and three-wheelers
in Asia has lagged behind laws for cars and trucks, according to
general manager for Asia at Degussa Metals Catalysts, Klaus
Ostgathe.

"Emission legislation here is based on that of the U.S.,
Europe and Japan. In those regions two stroke engines didn't have
a significant impact so it was not applied here," said Ostgathe,
who develops emission-control equipment.

Two stroke engines have been banned in the U.S. with the
exception of landscaping tools such as chainsaws and recreational
watercraft like jet skis.

Another major contributor to the carbon monoxide, nitric oxide
and particulates streaming from two-stroke tailpipes is leaded
gasoline, which is still used in Indonesia, Myanmar, the
Philippines and Vietnam, Ostgathe said.

The introduction of cleaner unleaded gasoline was delayed in
most of these countries due to the 1997 financial crisis, he
said.

The tuk tuks that ferry passengers through Bangkok's notorious
traffic jams are mostly run by clean natural gas engines,
although this innovation is relatively new. For years the three-
wheelers ran on two-stroke engines and left clouds of pollution
in their wake.