- Regulation & Legislation
- Higher Oil Prices Would Favor Lower-Carbon Fuels – NESCAUM
- CARB Workshop to Discuss Revisions to Biofuels ‘Land-Use Change’ Calculations
- U.S. Geological Survey Slashes Marcellus Shale-Gas Reserve Estimate Dramatically
- VW Submits MAN Merger Petition to EU Commission
- Technology
- Volvo to Launch Diesel-Hybrid Start/Stop Technology
- Australia Expanding Diesel Solar-Hybrid Power Systems
- Wärtsilä Inks Dual-Fuel Power-Plant Deal for Australian Mine
- Distillate Markets
- Qatargas Boosting Diesel Export Capacity; Technip Wins FEED
- Waste Gasification/FT-Diesel Plant Proposed in West Virginia
- U.S. DOE Seeks Bids for 350,000 Barrels of ULSD for Heating Oil Reserve
- FS Energy to Offer Oil-to-Gas Conversions in New York City
- Envidity Announces UCG-FT Diesel Project in Mongolia
- Sri Lanka Moving to Euro-2 Diesel
- Virginia Nuke Switches to Diesel Power As Earthquake Struck
- Indian Railways Mulls Diesel-to-LNG Switch
- Market Report: Distillates Head Higher as Storm Hits
- Distillate Watch
- Transport News
- Daimler, Rolls-Royce Win Final Approvals for Tognum Buyout
- Three More Investors Put US$150 Million into Clean Energy Fuels for CNG/LNG
- Cat Touts ‘Aggressive’ Expansion in China
- Tognum/MTU Wins Diesel-Engine Deal for U.S. Army Combat Vehicles
- VW: Fleet Vehicle Sales Beat EU CO2 Targets
Regulation & Legislation
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Higher Oil Prices Would Favor Lower-Carbon Fuels – NESCAUM
A new study on the economic impacts of a U.S. Northeast “clean fuels standard” (akin to the California “low carbon fuels standard”) shows that relatively high crude oil prices could enable alternative fuels to provide a net economic gain by cutting consumption of costlier gasoline and diesel fuel.
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CARB Workshop to Discuss Revisions to Biofuels ‘Land-Use Change’ Calculations
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced August 26 that it will conduct its next “Low-Carbon Fuel Standard” (LCFS) workshop on September 14, 2011, at the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Sacramento.
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U.S. Geological Survey Slashes Marcellus Shale-Gas Reserve Estimate Dramatically
Contrary to an earlier U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimate, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) last week declared that the Marcellus Shale formation has about 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas – about one-fifth the size of the previous EIA estimate.
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VW Submits MAN Merger Petition to EU Commission
Volkswagen announced August 23 that it has submitted a formal merger control application as part of the mandatory offer for shares in diesel engine/power specialist MAN SE to the European Commission in Brussels.
Technology
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Volvo to Launch Diesel-Hybrid Start/Stop Technology
Volvo announced August 23 that it will launch a hybrid start/stop technology on vehicles equipped with its 2.0-liter D3 turbo diesel in early September.
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Australia Expanding Diesel Solar-Hybrid Power Systems
Karl Hampton, Australia’s Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Minister, earlier this month announced the completed installation of a new hybrid solar-power system at the Watarrka National Park ranger station.
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Wärtsilä Inks Dual-Fuel Power-Plant Deal for Australian Mine
Wärtsilä announced August 23 that it won a contract to supply dual-fuel engines, generators and associated auxiliary equipment for a power plant serving a Fortescue Metals iron ore mine in Western Australia.
Feature
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Task Force Identifies Three Hypotheses on ‘ULSD Corrosion’
A task force organized by the U.S.-based Clean Diesel Fuel Alliance (CDFA) – led by American Petroleum Institute (API) and including numerous fuel marketing, end-user and petroleum equipment experts – has come up with three hypotheses so far on what might be causing corrosion in various retail-fuel storage systems handling ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD).
Transport News
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Daimler, Rolls-Royce Win Final Approvals for Tognum Buyout
Daimler and Rolls-Royce announced August 26 that they have now won all necessary regulatory approvals from various nations for the acquisition of global diesel engine/power specialist, Tognum.
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Three More Investors Put US$150 Million into Clean Energy Fuels for CNG/LNG
Clean Energy Fuels, a compressed natural gas (CNG)/liquefied natural gas (LNG) marketer based in California, announced August 25 that it struck a deal whereby private investors Springleaf Investments (Temasek Holdings), Lionfish Investments (Seatown Holdings) and Greenwich Asset Holding (RRJ) will invest a total of US$150 million in Clean Energy Fuels.
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Cat Touts ‘Aggressive’ Expansion in China
Global engine/equipment giant Caterpillar announced August 24 what it described as “aggressive” expansion plans in China including a new wheel-loader equipment factory and a new “Asia Pacific Proving Ground” (APPG) test facility, both in Tongzhou, Jiangsu Province.
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Tognum/MTU Wins Diesel-Engine Deal for U.S. Army Combat Vehicles
Tognum/MTU announced August 24 that it won a diesel engine contract from the U.S. Army for its Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program.
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VW: Fleet Vehicle Sales Beat EU CO2 Targets
Diesel-oriented Volkswagen Group announced August 24 that vehicles sold to fleet customers in first-half 2011 have average carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions of 136 grams per kilometer (km) – below the European Union (EU) fleet-average threshold of 140 grams CO2/km.
Distillate Markets
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Qatargas Boosting Diesel Export Capacity; Technip Wins FEED
Qatargas, which operates the Laffan refinery in Qatar, reportedly awarded a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract this month to Technip for a proposed capacity expansion from the current 146,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 292,000 b/d.
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Waste Gasification/FT-Diesel Plant Proposed in West Virginia
West Virginia-based North American Bio Fuels Group (NABFG) is proposing to build a US$500-million waste-gasification plant that would produce Fischer-Tropsch (FT) diesel fuel at Weirton, W.Va.
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U.S. DOE Seeks Bids for 350,000 Barrels of ULSD for Heating Oil Reserve
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on August 26 issued a solicitation seeking commercial storage contracts for the remaining 350,000 barrels of ultra low sulfur distillate (ULSD) needed to complete the fill of the U.S. Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve.
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FS Energy to Offer Oil-to-Gas Conversions in New York City
Energy management firm FS Energy announced August 23 that it will offer a financing program for hundreds of New York City condominiums and co-ops that want to convert from “dirty” No. 4 or No. 6 oil to natural gas.
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Envidity Announces UCG-FT Diesel Project in Mongolia
Calgary, Alberta-based Envidity announced a “commitment of funds” on August 19 to launch a proposed US$1-billion underground coal-gasification (UCG) project in Mongolia that includes Fischer-Tropsch (FT) diesel-fuel synthesis and electricity production.
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Sri Lanka Moving to Euro-2 Diesel
Sri Lanka’s environment minister announced August 19 that the government plans to adopt Euro-2 (500 parts-per-million [ppm] sulfur) diesel standards by 2012.
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Virginia Nuke Switches to Diesel Power As Earthquake Struck
Dominion Virginia Power reported August 23 that its North Anna nuclear power plant successfully switched to diesel backup power in the wake of a nearby earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale.
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Indian Railways Mulls Diesel-to-LNG Switch
Indian Railways has signed a memorandum of understanding with Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) to explore the possibility of replacing – in a phased manner – diesel with liquefied natural gas (LNG) in its locomotives.
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Market Report: Distillates Head Higher as Storm Hits
Ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) prices in major spot and futures markets moved higher late Friday thanks to stronger demand and supply fears from Hurricane Irene, which struck the U.S. East Coast.
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Distillate Watch
