California legislation regarding marine diesels and sulfur-containing diesel fuels

February 21, 2007 by Walter Schneider.

NEP&I (North of England P&I Club, marine insurance mutuals), Dec. 22, 2006

Emission Limits and Requirements for Auxiliary Diesel Engines and Diesel Electric Engines within Californian Waters

From the 1st of January 2007 all ocean going vessels calling at California ports will have to ensure that auxiliary engines and all diesel electric engines are operating with gas oil or diesel with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5% when within 24 nautical miles from the Californian baseline. [That equates to a sulphur content of 20,000 ppm by weight. — ed. *]

Owners and Operators who’s vessels exceed this limit may be prosecuted under California’s Health and Safety Law….

From 2010 vessels will require to use marine gas oil with a maximum sulphur content of 0.1%. (Full Story)

Update 2007 11 08 by folc.ca: In September of 2007 the US Federal Government nixed this California legislation. It is curious that the driving force for that was the US Environment Protection Agency.

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*See also: REGULATIONS FOR AUXILIARY DIESEL ENGINES AND DIESEL-ELECTRIC ENGINES OPERATED ON OCEAN-GOING VESSELS WITHIN CALIFORNIA WATERS AND 24 NAUTICAL MILES OF THE CALIFORNIA BASELINE (39 kB PDF file)

Without a doubt, marine diesel fuel is a concern with respect to air pollution, as shown in the photo (at right) of the diesel-exhaust plume (visible in the lower right of the photo) laid down by the cruise ship Norwegian Wind on a tour to Alaska (June 8, 2006, near Haines, Alaska).

Obviously the emission reduction targets set by the California regulation are no more than a pittance in the fight to curb SO₂ emissions from bunker fuel. All that the California regulations achieve is to set the limit for the sulphur content in marine bunker fuel to be no higher than 1,333 times than that in ultra-low-sulphur diesel. (Some marine bunker fuels can contain as much as 1.5% sulphur in designated areas, while the sulphur content of some No. 6 bunker fuels can be as high 6%.) Even the 2010 target limit for sulphur content in marine bunker fuel will still permit marine bunker fuel to have a sulphur content that is 267 times higher than the 15 ppm in ultra-low-sulphur diesel, but that will be a considerably more effective restriction.

It must therefore be concluded that marine diesel or bunker fuel is until then a convenient vehicle for the disposal of waste sulphur on a very large scale by spewing it into the environment in the form of SO₂. Marine diesel exhaust plumes are loaded with SO₂; and the one shown in the photo is from just a single ship. A number of cruise ships travel this route each day during the tourist season. Although tourism is vital to Alaska’s economy, that makes it far from being environmentally friendly.

Well, at least Californians now have the benefit of the illusion that something effective is being done to curb air pollution caused by ships.

Nevertheless, the sulphur-content restrictions for marine bunker fuel in California and other localities will increase the world’s waste-sulphur inventory and the waste-sulphur storage requirements in the US. The world market for waste sulphur is already seriously glutted, and the tightening emission restrictions on SO₂ will increase the severity of that glut. That decreases the market potential for Alberta waste sulphur. The question now is by how much the California regulations and those in other localities increase the likelihood that waste sulphur will be stored at the proposed sulphur storage and handling facility in the County of Lamont.

See also: Europe likely to slash Marine sulfur, emissions

One recent study for the EC [European Commission] found that ship-borne sulfur dioxide [SO₂] emissions will account for at least 30% of all airborne SO₂ in Europe by 2010 (see Diesel Fuel News 11/27/2000, p2). But updated forecasts indicate that marine SO₂ could rise to the equivalent of 75-100% of all Europe’s land-based SO₂ emissions by 2010, Robinson said….Sweden, Belgium and France already ban the sale of higher-sulfur marine gasoil….

Posted in Bunker Fuel, Emission Incidents & Issues, World Sulphur Glut, Sulphur Logistics, Ultra-Low-Sulphur Diesel | Print | No Comments »