Chicago-based bond rater Fitch issued a warning June 3 that Citgo’s Lemont, Ill., and Corpus Christi, Texas, refineries will fail to achieve mandatory U.S. EPA compliance with highway ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) deadlines by June 2010.

If CO2 capture & storage (CCS) is employed, then gasifying 8% (by weight) non-food biomass with 92% coal – followed by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to make ultra-clean diesel – would yield a fuel that would qualify for the ultra-tough California Air Resources Board “low carbon fuel standard” (LCFS) requirements in 2020.

International Energy Agency’s new “Impact of the Financial and Economic Crisis on Global Energy Investment” report shows that 1.6 million barrels/day of new refining capacity has been postponed or cancelled because of the global financial crisis.

U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) annual International Energy Outlook (2009 edition) to 2030 foresees a combined 1 million barrels/day from coal-to-liquids (CTL) and gas to liquids (GTL) fuels production.

Chinese oil major Sinopec began producing and shipping Euro-5 (10-ppm sulfur maximum) diesel fuel May 28, with the first 10,000 tons going to Hong Kong.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) would be “greener” than vehicles running on coal-to-liquids (CTL) diesel or gasoline – no matter whether the electric-power or liquid-fuels plants were to include CO2 capture & storage (CCS), according to a new Carnegie Mellon University study.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-supported researchers continue to work on advanced engine combustion schemes along with advanced, “alternative fuels,” in a dizzying array of R&D programs.

Navistar (International) confirmed to Diesel Fuel News that it has sued U.S. EPA over the agency’s certification of rival diesel engine makers employing urea-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) for nitrogen oxides (NOx) control on 2010 highway heavy-duty vehicles.

Finland-based Neste Oil promised June 4 to use only certified palm oil by the end of 2015 for production of its “NExBTL” renewable diesel.

Port of Long Beach, Calif., and oil major BP on June 3 unveiled the world’s first oil tanker terminal with electric shore power replacing diesel engine idling at berth.