S&D Petroleum Learning Center

ULSD & Gasoline

 

Ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) is a term used to describe a standard for defining diesel fuel with substantially lowered sulfur contents. As of 2006, almost all of the petroleum-based diesel fuel available in Europe and North America is of a ULSD type.

Lower sulfur allows for newer emissions control technologies that substantially lower emissions of particulate matter from diesel engines. This change occurred first in the European Union and is now happening in North America. New emissions standards, dependent on the cleaner fuel, have been in effect for automobiles in the United States since model year 2007.

 

Gasoline is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture, primarily used as fuel in internal combustion engines. In New York, retail gasoline is a 10% ethanol blend. Ten states effectively mandate ethanol blends, which are now found in two-thirds of the nation's gas supply.