Why did Greenpeace have a petrol engine built and not a diesel ?
A number of reasons speak against the diesel: The cancer risk. Almost two thirds of the cancer risk created by air pollutants is due to diesel engine emissions. The particles (“soot”) contained in the diesel exhaust gases and the polycyclics deposited on them penetrate deep into the lungs because of their small size. A large number of medical publications proves the cancerogenic effect of diesel exhaust gases. The exhaust gas problem is not solved. Even newer diesel engines have 30-40 percent higher nitrogen oxide emissions system-induced in comparison to petrol engines with catalytic converter. The planned exhaust gas limits of the European Union for the year 2000 allow the diesel 2.5 times higher emissions of ozone precursor substances in comparison to the petrol engine. Concepts which could reduce the exhaust gases of diesel engines to a level still below the standards applying in Europe as from the year 2000 (such as the Californian ULEV limits), currently do not exist. In addition
