Gas Pumps Go Naked As Vapor-Recovery Requirement Ends http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/10/politics/epa-gas-pump-handles/ Good or bad? Did it ever really do anything?
In your prius, since it already has a vapor recovery system, it does nothing. On old cars without such a system it does decrease vapor. It never did much. Interestingly the ethanol requirements increase vapor, but the regulators don't seem to have a problem with that.
We never had it over here though I'm sure I remember it being considered years ago. I always thought it must work as when I fuel my car over here you can see the air distort due to the vapours coming out of your tank. Also the smell of petrol really hits you. Surely all those fumes must add to smog?
The car has nothing to do with this particular system. Gas station vapor recovery draws the "make up" air (the air that is drawn into the underground tank) from the filler neck of the car (since an equal amount of vapor-laden air is displaced by the fuel that is filling it). I think this is awful news. Gas stations with vapor recovery are noticeably freer of the odors of gasoline.
In the state of Montana - they never heard of vapor recovery anyway ... whether on the car or the fuel pumps. No smog checks mean that one of the 1st things that happens is smog junk gets removed, as much as possible. Big sky is also blue sky ... from unburned fuel. Many of the locals complain about how hazy the Flathead Valley has gotten over the past few decades. And they wonder why (shaking head).
Technically the only requirement that has been removed is the need for states to put it in their SIP (for ozone nonattainment areas, serious and above). However states can still choose to keep Stage II. I believe NJ has said (unofficially) that facilities with Stage II installed will be required to keep it in operation for the life of the system.
This statement is incorrect. The car has everything to do with this particular system. Older cars lacked integral refueling vapor recovery systems, so they were mandated on gas pumps in some areas. New cars, on the other hand, all have integral systems to catch and recover these fumes. The ones on the pumps are redundant. Note that this is the reason for tight fitting filler necks on the newer cars. Instead of allowing fumes to vent up the filler neck, the fumes are forced to flow through the vapor recovery system on the car. While it's good for the environment, it does cause more early click-off problems like we experienced with the Gen II. Tom
Hey, css28, O.K., so the make-up air goes from your fuel tank into the station's underground tank. Then when the station gets its next fuel delivery, where does the displaced air go when it has to leave the underground tank to make room for the fresh load of gas? Oh, yeah, it gets sucked into the tanker truck? Then when the truck goes back to the fuel depot to get another load, that displaced air/vapor must get sucked out of the truck into the huge storage tanks? When the storage tanks get filled, those vapors must get sucked back into the ocean tankers (if near the coastline) for recycling to the middle east (where the oil originally came from) or back through the pipeline to the refinery where those vapors are burned off by those eternal flames. Seems like a complicated system of re-cycling. This whole post is just joking, of course. Ken (in Bolton,Ct)
Each time Pearl "belched" fuel due to the ridiculous fueling system it created a years worth of "lost vapour". It happened five times in the five years I've owned Pearl. Obsessive compulsive nonsense I think! But that's just my opinion.