Lead removal slow and expensive

The response to my recent article about unleaded gasoline makes it apparent that I did not make my central point clear. Lead is a health menace, without question. However, many other components of an auto's exhaust may be even worse, or at least more immediately hazardous.

Removing lead from gasoline is an admirable environmental goal, just as democracy is an admirable political goal. But removing lead is a slow, expensive process. In the USA, fully leaded gasoline is still sold today, almost 25 years after its mandated removal.

So my point is: set a goal of lead removal, but understand that it is slow and expensive. Unless other steps are taken as well, the effort and expense will be wasted. Setting and enforcing vehicle emissions standards will give far more beneficial results, much more quickly and with hugely less expense. It must be done anyway, even if the nation does convert to unleaded gasoline.

An additional point to consider is that there are alternatives to unleaded gasoline which might make more sense for Indonesia. Compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas are used in a growing number of nations, especially for commercial fleets, such as taxis and buses. Indonesia could develop such a fuel as part of the national car campaign, while preserving its oil stocks for export.

Mr. Thomas Walton of the World Bank, in his letter of June 28, 1996, quotes a maximum cost of Rp 88 billion to convert all the gasoline used in Jakarta. That is approximately US$38 million, which would barely cover the cost of one additional catalytic reformer at one refinery. It is hard to imagine that it also includes fitting catalytic converters on every gasoline engine in Jakarta, never mind the expense of providing alternate octane enhancing products (MTBE and alcohol) and facilities at the refineries. My company alone spent $50 million in the early 1970's at the small refinery in the USA where I was a process engineer. The World Bank's costs sound woefully understated.

Mr. Walton also states that medical costs due to lead pollution amount to Rp 144 billion. How were medical costs due to lead contamination accurately isolated from other medical costs, and how can a saving of Rp 144 billion be proven to result from removing lead from gasoline?

I repeat my original claims: unleaded gasoline is not a cure- all. It will be enormously expensive and slow for Indonesia to implement, and there are better solutions for improving the nation's air quality.

GARY GENTRY

Jakarta