- Feature
- Inventors Claim 75% Fuel Savings with Diesel-Electric Marine-Propulsion System
- No Diesel Fuel News on May 14; Next Issue is May 21
- Regulation & Legislation
- Green Groups Urge U.S. EPA to Ban Diesel Fuel in Oil, Gas Fracking
- European Commission Fails to Agree on Biofuels Climate-Impact Policy
- Greens: Palm-Oil Biodiesel Even Worse on GHG than U.S. EPA Calculates
- U.S. EPA Hits Green Diesel LLC on Biodiesel RIN Fraud Charges
- U.S. EPA Rejects Sulfur-Averaging Scheme for Marine Diesel ‘ECA’ Compliance
- Technology
- Cat, Cummins Tout New Dual-Fuel Diesel Engines for Oil, Gas Applications
- CDT Wins US$700,000 in Orders under New Jersey’s Diesel Emissions-Retrofit Program
- Cat Launches ‘Greatest Power Output of Any High-Speed Diesel Genset’
- MAN Upgrading Four-Stroke Holeby Generator-Sets
- Distillate Markets
- ICE Claims 70% Share of Middle Distillate Futures, but NYMEX Moving Faster on ULSD Conversion
- Valero Sees Continuing Strength for U.S. ULSD Export Demand
- Syntroleum Reports US$1.9-Million Loss for 1Q 2012
- Delta Air Lines Subsidiary Buys Pennsylvania Refinery Complex
- Government Price Controls Cause Sinopec Profits to Fall
- Gushan Posts Net Loss in 2011; Biodiesel Sales Plunge
- Market Report: Distillates Fall Along with Crude, Economic Indicators
- Distillate Watch
- Transport News
- Cummins 1Q 2012 Net Income Rises Year-over-Year
- Port of Los Angeles Adopts Lower-Emissions Ship Incentive Program
- Kirby 1Q 2012 Earnings Improve Year-over-Year
- VW: U.S. Diesel Car Sales Jump 44%
- Paccar Offering Hug DPF Retrofits for U.S. Class-7, Class-8 Trucks
- China Road Transport Association Launches ‘Green Freight Initiative’
Regulation & Legislation
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Green Groups Urge U.S. EPA to Ban Diesel Fuel in Oil, Gas Fracking
The Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, Clean Water Action, Earthworks and Earthjustice on May 4 jointly called upon the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the use of diesel fuel in oil and gas hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluids.
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European Commission Fails to Agree on Biofuels Climate-Impact Policy
The European Commission met May 2 to try to come to agreement on calculating the net greenhouse-gas (GHG) impact of “indirect land-use change” (ILUC) from biofuels production and mandates. But try as they might, they couldn’t agree.
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Greens: Palm-Oil Biodiesel Even Worse on GHG than U.S. EPA Calculates
A preliminary finding by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that palm-oil-derived biodiesel fails to meet minimum lifecycle greenhouse-gas (GHG) reductions for the renewable fuel standard-2 (RFS-2) regulation is more than justified, according to a coalition of “green” groups.
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U.S. EPA Hits Green Diesel LLC on Biodiesel RIN Fraud Charges
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on April 30 hit Houston-based Green Diesel LLC with a “notice of violation” (NOV) for allegedly generating and selling more than 60 million “invalid” renewable identification number (RIN) biodiesel trading credits under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) “without producing any qualifying renewable fuel.”
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U.S. EPA Rejects Sulfur-Averaging Scheme for Marine Diesel ‘ECA’ Compliance
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told an April 24 U.S. House subcommittee hearing that it won’t support a proposed fuel-sulfur-averaging scheme for marine diesel “emissions-control area” (ECA) regulation scheduled to take effect in 2015.
Technology
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Cat, Cummins Tout New Dual-Fuel Diesel Engines for Oil, Gas Applications
Caterpillar announced new dual-fuel (natural gas and diesel) engines for offshore oil and gas operators on April 30 – and Cummins followed a day later with a similar announcement.
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CDT Wins US$700,000 in Orders under New Jersey’s Diesel Emissions-Retrofit Program
California-based Clean Diesel Technologies (CDT) announced April 30 that it won orders valued at approximately US$700,000 for its verified diesel-emissions control retrofit products.
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Cat Launches ‘Greatest Power Output of Any High-Speed Diesel Genset’
Caterpillar announced May 1 the commercial launch of its “C175-20” generator-set, which the company describes as producing “up to 4 MW [megawatts] of power and delivering the greatest power output of any single high-speed diesel generator set available on the market.”
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MAN Upgrading Four-Stroke Holeby Generator-Sets
MAN Diesel & Turbo announced May 1 that it’s launching a series of upgrades to the diesel engines in its Holeby GenSets division, starting with a 10% power yield uprating of its classic “L23/30H” model, described as the “workhorse” of the group.
Feature
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Inventors Claim 75% Fuel Savings with Diesel-Electric Marine-Propulsion System
Australia-based Gamma Light & Heavy Industries (GLHI) announced April 26 that it has developed what it calls “The Gamma Propulsion System” (TGPS), which claims to enable a 75% energy savings over conventional propeller-based ship propulsion systems while delivering the same performance. -
No Diesel Fuel News on May 14; Next Issue is May 21
Diesel Fuel News is published 48 times per year, and is taking a regularly scheduled spring vacation on May 14. Our next issue will be May 21. Thank you for your loyal support.
Transport News
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Cummins 1Q 2012 Net Income Rises Year-over-Year
Cummins announced May 1 that first-quarter (1Q) 2012 net income rose to US$455 million, up from $343 million in 1Q 2011.
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Port of Los Angeles Adopts Lower-Emissions Ship Incentive Program
The giant Port of Los Angeles (POLA) announced May 3 that it became the first seaport in North America and the Pacific Rim to adopt an international clean air program that rewards ocean carriers for bringing their “newest and cleanest” vessels to the Port.
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Kirby 1Q 2012 Earnings Improve Year-over-Year
Houston-based marine barge and diesel engine specialist Kirby Corp. announced April 25 that its first-quarter (1Q) 2012 net earnings rose to US$50.9 million, up from $32.4 million in 1Q 2011.
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VW: U.S. Diesel Car Sales Jump 44%
Volkswagen announced May 3 that its U.S. sales of diesel-powered cars jumped 44.4% in March 2012 versus March 2011.
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Paccar Offering Hug DPF Retrofits for U.S. Class-7, Class-8 Trucks
Texas-based Hug Filtersystems announced that truck maker Paccar is now offering the Hug “Mobiclean” diesel particulate filter (DPF) as an aftermarket retrofit device for a “wide variety of Class 7 and Class 8 trucks.”
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China Road Transport Association Launches ‘Green Freight Initiative’
The China Road Transport Association (CRTA) and China’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) on April 18 launched what they’re calling the “China Green Freight Initiative” aiming to boost truck fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.
Distillate Markets
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ICE Claims 70% Share of Middle Distillate Futures, but NYMEX Moving Faster on ULSD Conversion
In a first quarter 2012 earnings call with financial analysts, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) CEO Jeffrey Sprecher stated that London-based ICE’s share of middle distillate futures trading “grew from approximately 30% in 2001 to roughly 70% today.”
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Valero Sees Continuing Strength for U.S. ULSD Export Demand
In a May 1 conference call on first-quarter (1Q) 2012 earnings, Valero Energy executive VP Joe Gorder revealed that export markets for Valero’s diesel fuel output – especially ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) – remain strong and are likely to continue that way for the foreseeable future.
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Syntroleum Reports US$1.9-Million Loss for 1Q 2012
Oklahoma-based Syntroleum – a producer of “renewable diesel” via hydrotreating of waste animal fats – announced May 2 that it posted a net loss of US$1.9 million for first-quarter (1Q) 2012 ending March 31, compared with a net loss of $3.9 million in 1Q 2011.
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Delta Air Lines Subsidiary Buys Pennsylvania Refinery Complex
Delta Air Lines wholly-owned subsidiary, Monroe Energy LLC, announced April 30 that it cut a deal with Phillips 66 (the spin-off of the former ConocoPhillips refining division) to acquire the 180,000 barrel-per-day (b/d) Trainer refinery complex south of Philadelphia.
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Government Price Controls Cause Sinopec Profits to Fall
Sinopec announced April 26 that its first-quarter (1Q) 2012 net profit fell to RMB12.829 billion , down 37% from 1Q 2011, thanks largely to government price controls on diesel fuel (by far the biggest-volume oil product in China) and gasoline.
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Gushan Posts Net Loss in 2011; Biodiesel Sales Plunge
China-based biodiesel producer and copper recycler Gushan Environmental Energy Ltd. announced April 27 that it suffered a net loss of RMB747.7 million (US$118.8 million) in 2011, compared with a net loss of RMB1,109 million (US$174 million) in 2010.
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Market Report: Distillates Fall Along with Crude, Economic Indicators
Ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) prices in major global markets fell sharply last week in tandem with plunging crude-oil prices and weakening U.S. economic data.
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Distillate Watch
