The Law of Unintended Consequences

INJECTING lead into petrol was -- and still is -- the cheapest, quickest way of jacking up the octane rating. Begun in the 1940s to help piston-driven fighter aircraft fly higher and faster, the practice was continued to zoop up the performance of motor cars and trucks. The Ethyl Corporation of America grew extremely rich as a result. Then along came the Greens and a worldwide attack on the use of lead on the grounds of it being a health hazard. In came the Law of Unintended Consequences. In the hunt for something to replace the octane boosting qualities of lead, the oil companies came up ( at vast expense to themselves, it must be said) with a cocktail of chemicals that did the job but had the side effect of insect spray. Pretty soon, sparrows and other small birds that used to populate world cities, vanished, along with the insects they used to feed on. Law of Unintended Consequence -1-, Common Sense -0-. Win some, lose some. What meanwhile slipped under the Green radar was the introduction of an additive almost as cheap as lead, a manganese-based, complex chemical call MMT. It not only did almost the same job as lead, it did not need massive investment in new plant. Law of Unintended Consequences kicked in again. Manganese is a neurological poison, every bit as dangerous to human health as lead. So bad is MMT that BP refineries around the world refuse to use it. Law of Unintended Consequence -2-, Common Sense -0-. Did this stop our own home-grown Sasol? Did it, hell. South African motorists using Sasol's unleaded fuel get a dose of MMT whether they like it or not.