Among the member nations of Organisation for Cooperative and Economic Development (OECD), total inland oil deliveries fell by 0.8% year-on-year in February, with North American losses largely counteracting gains in Europe and the Pacific, according to the latest Oil Market Report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Hart Energy Publishing is distributing a newspaper showcasing the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2008 Diesel Engine-Efficiency and Emissions Research (DEER) Conference that will be held August 4-7, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency Dearborn in Dearborn, Michigan.

Advertising and editorial contributions are being accepted now.

American Trucking Associations announced last week that its advanced seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage index for the U.S. fell 3.3% in March 2008, after remaining unchanged in February.

Petrobras told the American Chemical Society spring meeting in New Orleans this month that it aims to start refinery hydrotreating of vegetable oils into all-hydrocarbon biodiesel by late 2008 and then again in 2009.

With U.S. diesel prices trading at a huge premium to gasoline – up to $1/gallon in some places – automakers understandably might consider delaying introductions of ultra-clean U.S. EPA Tier-2, Bin-5 diesel cars to the North American market this year.

The big price premium (up to $1/gallon) of diesel fuel over gasoline at U.S. retail stations this year got a lot of negative attention at the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit this month.

Centre for Science & Environment (CSE), the best-known “green” advocacy group in India and well-recognized world-wide, this month blames “capitalism” for all the environmental problems in the world.

CSE earlier led a hugely publicized battle to ban all diesel taxis and buses in Delhi and elsewhere, convincing the country’s Supreme Court to order massive conversions to compressed natural gas (CNG), supposedly to cut air pollution.

“The European Refining & Fuels Conferences on Low-Carbon Fuels Implementation,” promises a thorough and lively discussion on the trends and future technologies surrounding low-carbon fuels.

Detroit – The lean-NOx trap (LNT), mostly discarded for U.S. EPA 2010 heavy-duty diesel emissions limits, nevertheless is starting to make a mark for light-duty EPA Tier-2, Bin-5 diesel applications.

Detroit – With U.S. diesel prices soaring well above gasoline – discouraging prospects for clean-diesel car sales – promoters of efficient alternatives are jumping into the breach.

Outstanding example: plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), which grabbed an unusually large share of attention at this year’s Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress here.

Detroit – Coming from an oil company, the prediction may seem odd: Electricity looks to become the likely major competitor to liquid fuels for future vehicles.

“Long term, electricity offers primary energy diversification to transportation beyond oil and liquid biofuels,” as ConocoPhillips (CoP) fuels & vehicle trends manager Joe Kaufman explained at a panel discussion at Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress here this month.

Detroit – Rhodia – developer of the “Eolys” ceria-based fuel-borne catalyst (FBC) that aids soot regeneration in diesel particulate filters (DPFs) – reports encouraging progress on various diesel emissions-control technologies for both OEM and retrofit applications.

On the retrofit front, probably its most exciting news is winning government approval for DPF/FBCs in Beijing diesel buses and other fleet vehicles, following successful trials over the past year.