Shipping’s Heavy Fuel Oil Puts the Arctic at Risk. Could It Be Banned?

Heavy fuel oil—the molasses-like sludge left after the oil refining process—is among the dirtiest fuels on the planet, and yet its use by ships is widespread in the Arctic, a pristine environment where it could do significant harm.

The majority of the Arctic's black carbon, a short-lived climate
pollutant, comes from heavy fuel oil used in ships.

Burning the fuel contributes to climate change, and a spill in Arctic waters would be a nightmare for emergency response coordinators. But it's cheap, and attractive for ships making long hauls, the kind of traffic on the rise as climate change makes Arctic shipping easier.

Concerns about the safety and use of the fuel in a delicate and remote environment led to it being banned in the Antarctic in 2011, but efforts to include the Arctic in that ban fell short.

Read the Inside Climate News story by Sabrina Shankman - “Shipping’s Heavy Fuel Oil Puts the Arctic at Risk. Could It Be Banned?”

Co-Optimization of Engines & Fuels: Breakthrough Research in Engine and Fuel Co-Optimization

The Energy Department today released two studies from the Co-Optimization of Engines & Fuels initiative (Co-Optima). The study, Fuel Blendstocks with the Potential to Optimize Future Gasoline Engine Performance, identifies eight representative high-octane blendstocks across five chemical groups that could be blended into gasoline for better performance. These new blendstocks, co-optimized with advanced gasoline engines, show potential to improve passenger vehicle fuel economy by 10%. The companion study, Efficiency Merit Function for Spark Ignition Engines, outlines a new mathematical equation which quantifies the fuel efficiency potential associated with different fuel properties. The goal of this research is to provide American industry with the scientific foundation needed to maximize vehicle and fuel performance and efficiency, thereby enabling increased fuel economy and more affordable transportation. For a typical American household, transportation costs are second only to housing expenses.

“Increasing the efficiency of internal combustion engines is one of the most cost-effective approaches to improving the energy efficiency of new vehicles in the near- to mid-term in conventional, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Daniel Simmons. “Researching engines and fuels as a system offers the opportunity to improve the affordability and efficiency of future gasoline engines for American families and businesses.”

Read the Science and Technology Research News story - “Co-Optimization of Engines & Fuels: Breakthrough Research in Engine and Fuel Co-Optimization.”