Cheap fuel may not be so green

No one shows up at the petrol pump and gripes about paying 50 fils less for fuel. So, on the surface, the new lower-octane E-plus fuel sounds great.

Still, there seems to be a healthy amount of scepticism about both the quality of the fuel and Adnoc's claims that it is environment-friendly.

Unlike the 95 and 98 octane fuels being sold now, the 91 E-plus will have fewer additives and is unleaded, according to Adnoc.

But Pier Paolo Cazzola, an analyst with the Technical Division of the International Energy Agency (IEA), says the higher the octane number, the better the combustion.

And better combustion means lower pollutants. Adnoc's other argument for the fuel's environmentally-friendly status is that it is unleaded a bit weak, considering almost all modern consumer vehicles only take unleaded fuel.

So there doesn't seem to be much that is "green" about E-plus, although it probably won't be any worse than other grades of gasoline.

E-plus might prove a savings measure, though, for the many Dubai residents who are carefully counting their dirhams as costs increase across the board.

After all, would anyone even notice a performance difference in a 10-year-old Sunny engine using 91 octane gasoline?

Still, filling a Porsche or Land Rover with the fuel could prove more than problematic, according to dealers, all of whom advocate doing some research before filling up.