- Top Stories
- IMO OK’s 0.5% Sulfur Limit on Ship Bunker Fuel By 2020
- Sharp Downturn in 2008 N. America Diesel Demand, but Growth Elsewhere
- ‘Low Carbon Fuel Standard’ Could Favor PHEVs over Diesels, Biofuels: Green Group
- Diesel Analysts Critique WWF Study Pushing Electric Cars
- SAE Congress Survey: Dramatic Shift toward Diesels, Hybrids; Huge Decline in Gasoline Focus
- Around the world of Diesel
- Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) Says Diesel Car Sales Falling Despite Jump in ‘Alternative Fuel Automobile’ Sales:
- Korea Diesel Prices to Exceed Gasoline for 1st Time Soon, Car Sales Suffer:
- Diesel Fuel Chronically More Expensive than Gasoline, ConocoPhillips (CoP) Tells U.S. Congress:
- Baker Petrolite Wins ‘Tx-LED’ OK for ‘NOxitrol 1000’ Additive:
- South Africa Diesel Car Sales Growing 9-Times Faster Than Those of Gasoline Cars:
- Australia Diesel Prices Soaring vs. Gasoline, Following Huge Diesel Car Sales Jump:
- PetroChina Boosting Diesel Desulfurization Capacity at Dalian Refinery:
- EU Seen Likely to Stiffen CO2 Reduction Requirements for Biofuels:
- Macedonia OK’s Price Boost to Cover Euro-4 (ULSD) Diesel Fuel Costs:
- Neste Debuts 100% Refinery Hydrotreated Biodiesel (‘NExBTL’) in Helsinki:
- Greens Slam Biodiesel Expansion in Brasil, Cite Amazon Rainforest Destruction:
- South Africa’s Eskom Turns to Diesel Power for 1,000-MW during Electricity Shortage:
- Detroit Diesel (DDC) Confirms Urea-SCR for U.S. EPA 2010 Trucks, Claims 3-5% Fuel Economy Boost:
- Strong Diesel Demand Continues to Push Prices Upward:
- ULSD Automated Lubricity Injector System Debuts:
- CARB OK’s $200 Million Grants to Replace Old, Dirty-Diesel School Buses:
- More News
- India Stands Out as Diesel Car Growth Opportunity, Not China: Study
- U.S. ULSD Production, Stocks and Imports All Increase
- Nissan, Cummins Team-Up on Ultra-Clean Diesel Light Commercial Trucks
- Carbon-14 Method Can Determine Refinery-Processed Biofuel Content
- World Biofuels to Hit 2 Million Barrels/Day by 2011
- Sour Crude, Diesel: Tesoro Sees Opportunities Knocking
- China’s Diesel Price Controls Push Refiners toward Petrochemicals; Sinopec Could Lose $14 Billion in Refining
- Regulation
- Study Shows Diesel Price Controls Causing Waste, Government Deficits
- First-Ever Fuel Economy Test for Heavy-Duty Vehicles Gets U.S. EPA Nod
- Technology
- Shell ‘Milos’ Technology Can Boost Diesel Yield from FCC
- ‘ART’ Jumps into Refinery Hydrotreated Biofuels Arena
- Key Prices
- Distillate Watch
Top Stories
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IMO OK’s 0.5% Sulfur Limit on Ship Bunker Fuel By 2020
International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) announced April 4 that it has approved proposed Marpol Annex-6 amendments to require heavy bunker fuel sulfur limits to fall to 0.5% by 2020.
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Sharp Downturn in 2008 N. America Diesel Demand, but Growth Elsewhere
Energy Security Analysis Inc. (ESAI) predicts that the economic slow-down now hitting the U.S. will result in a sharp reduction in the growth of diesel demand there this year.
In North America, “ESAI's expectation of weak trucking demand is a big part of our forecast for 2008,” ESAI analyst Andrew Reed explains.
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‘Low Carbon Fuel Standard’ Could Favor PHEVs over Diesels, Biofuels: Green Group
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) contends in a new study that plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) could out-compete either diesels or biofuels for the 10% “carbon intensity” reductions by 2020 called for by European Union and California Air Resources Board (CARB).
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Diesel Analysts Critique WWF Study Pushing Electric Cars
The new World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) study promoting massive conversion of the internal-combustion engine (ICE) car fleet to supposedly “low-carbon” battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEVs) suffers from several crucial flaws, according to Diesel Technology Forum (DTF) analysts.
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SAE Congress Survey: Dramatic Shift toward Diesels, Hybrids; Huge Decline in Gasoline Focus
The annual DuPont survey of Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress attendees indicates a huge jump in focus upon diesels and electric hybrids and a gigantic drop in focus on gasoline.
“Fifty percent of respondents see diesel engine technology as a key focus to help achieve 2020 efficiency regulations (35-mpg in U.S. and sub-120g/km CO2 in Europe), while 46% say hybrid-electric powertrains and 42% say extensive use of lightweight materials,” DuPont said in announcing the survey results April 10.
Regulation
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Study Shows Diesel Price Controls Causing Waste, Government Deficits
A “flash survey” of world retail fuel prices by Germany Technical Cooperation agency (GTZ) released this year shows that government fuel-price controls are causing wasteful usage of diesel fuel while aggravating government deficits.
The survey – this time on Africa – presented at a recent workshop shows that government price controls not only encourage consumers to waste fuel. Such controls also mean lost revenues for governments, cause lack of reinvestment in refining and cleaner fuels, and rob crucial funds for transport infrastructure – all of which aggravate poverty and worsen the lot of people.
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First-Ever Fuel Economy Test for Heavy-Duty Vehicles Gets U.S. EPA Nod
As part of its “SmartWay” program to promote fuel efficiency, U.S. EPA is proposing its first-ever test protocol to measure fuel efficiency of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including hybrid-power vehicles.
Around the world of Diesel
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Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (AAM) Says Diesel Car Sales Falling Despite Jump in ‘Alternative Fuel Automobile’ Sales:
-
Korea Diesel Prices to Exceed Gasoline for 1st Time Soon, Car Sales Suffer:
-
Diesel Fuel Chronically More Expensive than Gasoline, ConocoPhillips (CoP) Tells U.S. Congress:
-
Baker Petrolite Wins ‘Tx-LED’ OK for ‘NOxitrol 1000’ Additive:
-
South Africa Diesel Car Sales Growing 9-Times Faster Than Those of Gasoline Cars:
-
Australia Diesel Prices Soaring vs. Gasoline, Following Huge Diesel Car Sales Jump:
-
PetroChina Boosting Diesel Desulfurization Capacity at Dalian Refinery:
-
EU Seen Likely to Stiffen CO2 Reduction Requirements for Biofuels:
-
Macedonia OK’s Price Boost to Cover Euro-4 (ULSD) Diesel Fuel Costs:
-
Neste Debuts 100% Refinery Hydrotreated Biodiesel (‘NExBTL’) in Helsinki:
-
Greens Slam Biodiesel Expansion in Brasil, Cite Amazon Rainforest Destruction:
-
South Africa’s Eskom Turns to Diesel Power for 1,000-MW during Electricity Shortage:
-
Detroit Diesel (DDC) Confirms Urea-SCR for U.S. EPA 2010 Trucks, Claims 3-5% Fuel Economy Boost:
-
Strong Diesel Demand Continues to Push Prices Upward:
-
ULSD Automated Lubricity Injector System Debuts:
-
CARB OK’s $200 Million Grants to Replace Old, Dirty-Diesel School Buses:
More News
-
India Stands Out as Diesel Car Growth Opportunity, Not China: Study
Among all the nations in the world, India stands out for diesel car growth potential, according to a new study by CSM Worldwide.
“Diesel engines will gain market share as new technology is adopted to take advantage of India’s high price differential for diesel fuel,” CSM said.
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U.S. ULSD Production, Stocks and Imports All Increase
U.S. production, stocks and imports of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) increased for the period of March 21 through April 4, according to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
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Nissan, Cummins Team-Up on Ultra-Clean Diesel Light Commercial Trucks
Nissan this month announced it will build three new “light commercial vehicle” (LCV) trucks in Mississippi, tapping Cummins for the ultra-clean U.S. EPA 2010-compliant diesel engines.
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Carbon-14 Method Can Determine Refinery-Processed Biofuel Content
Contrary to claims made by some fatty-acid methyl ester (FAME) biodiesel proponents, refinery-processed biofeedstocks – such as “renewable diesel,” biobutanol or the newly-announced Shell process for converting plant sugars to gasoline – can indeed be detected accurately in finished fuel.
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World Biofuels to Hit 2 Million Barrels/Day by 2011
According to a new study by Cleveland-based consultant Freedonia Group, world demand for biofuels (including ethanol for gasoline and biodiesel for diesel) is on track to hit 2 million barrels/day (92 million metric tons) by 2011.
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Sour Crude, Diesel: Tesoro Sees Opportunities Knocking
San Diego, Calif. – U.S. refiner margins for gasoline are down drastically this year compared to first quarter 2007 – and they probably won’t return to former sky-high levels in future, according to one of the U.S.’s top independent refiners.
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China’s Diesel Price Controls Push Refiners toward Petrochemicals; Sinopec Could Lose $14 Billion in Refining
While China continues to suffer from diesel shortages because of government price controls, refiners have nevertheless stepped-up output.
Technology
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Shell ‘Milos’ Technology Can Boost Diesel Yield from FCC
San Diego, Calif. -- Shell unveiled at National Petrochemical & Refiners Association annual meeting here last month what it calls “Milos” technology for boosting the yield of diesel-destined light-cycle oil (LCO) from fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit.
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‘ART’ Jumps into Refinery Hydrotreated Biofuels Arena
San Diego, Calif. – Advanced Refining Technologies (ART) is joining a parade of refining and technology companies working to show how distillate hydrotreaters can be used to turn vegetable oils and fats into all-hydrocarbon, ultra-high-quality diesel.
In a paper to National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) annual meeting here last month, ART laboratory technology supervisor Brian Watkins presented results from hundreds of hours of ART pilot plant testing.
Key Prices
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Distillate Watch
