MONITORING OF SULPHUR CONTENT IN DIESEL IMPORTED IN ALBANIA AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, DURING THE PERIOD 2007 ? 2012

Development of road transport over the last decade has been accompanied by a growing trend to derivative fuel imports, gasoline and diesel, at 70 - 75%. This development among others, is associated with negative impacts on environmental pollution especially in urban areas at the rate of 25 -75% of the total pollution.Sulphur oxide (SOx) emissions from diesel vehicles are one of the main pollutants of urban air. The sulfur level in diesel fuel ranges from below 10 ppm to above 10,000 ppm. The diesel imported during this period is 2 244 thousand tons. In these conditions, continuous monitoring of sulfur content in diesel takes a special significance to improve its quality standards.In developing countries improvements to standards on the control of sulphur content in diesel fuel actually is in focus. In our country, a significant improvement of laws mark the adoption of Decision 147, dated 21.03.2007, in which the Sulphur content to imported diesel was limited at 350 mg/kg for the period from 1 January 2009 and 10 mg/kg for the period from 1 January 2011.The aim of this study is monitoring of the sulfur content in diesel import during the period 2007-2012, the environmental effects in urban areas and the impact of legal restrictions undertaken in the country to reduce the sulphur level to transportation fuels.