[eric_b]

Just wondering, is it just me or has car/truck exhaust gotten smellier recently?
More of a rotten egg/sulpher stink.

I know they've got certain rules and regulations for 'summer' blends of gas
here in the US. Not so sure about the Winter though. I live in Wisconsin, BTW.
I notice stuff like this as I walk ot ride bike everywhere, so I'm not insulated
from exhaust like the people driving (with windows rolled up) are.

My understanding is, more and more, there's a shortage of 'sweet' crude
and more of the crude available on the market is 'sour' crude (high sulpher).
I don't know anything about refining so I may be wrong. I can't help but
wonder if maybe they're trying to let a little more sulpher and other pollutants
slip through now that the quality of the crude is going down. It wouldn't surprise
me.

Plus China is supposedly building over 5,000 new coal fired electric plants.

God help us.

-Eric B

[0mar]

Heavy and sour crude both get refined to remove the impurities. At least they are supposed to.

[Cyrus]

Im noticing that too!! There is also a much higher smoke content than usually and is a darker color.

[linlithgowoil]

gasoline/petrol has certain standards. in the UK you have to meet certain levels of sulphur, etc. etc. - no matter what the type of crude you used to make it.

i thought the same happened in the US?

btw that rotten egg smell is just catalysed exhaust gases - they stink badly.

i fully expect air quality to worsen in future though as the air quality standards are relaxed.

[PhilBiker]

Just wondering, is it just me or has car/truck exhaust gotten smellier recently?
More of a rotten egg/sulpher stink.

It's just you.

Supposition seems to be a strong suit for posters here.

Heavier sour crude means more expensive refining, the end products are the same.