Oh, Great: Some Blends Of Lower-Sulfur Marine Fuel Now Contain Nearly 2X As Much Black Carbon

A coalition of environmental groups is demanding answers from the oil refining and shipping industries after it emerged that new blends of marine fuels designed to reduce acid rain-causing sulphur emissions have instead increased emissions of “super pollutant” black carbon, a key climate change driver.

According to a German study presented to the International Maritime Organization, some of the new blends of low sulphur fuels developed and marketed by oil companies to comply with UN-mandated air pollution standards in the marine shipping that came into effect on Jan. 1 will actually lead to a surge in the emissions of black carbon.

The study submitted by Germany and Finland to the IMO’s upcoming meeting in February found that these new very low sulphur oil (VLSFO) blends contain high levels of aromatic compounds which, when combusted, could result in up to 85-per-cent increase in emissions of black carbon when compared with heavier fuel oil and distillate fuels used by the shipping industry. Black carbon is a short-lived “climate forcer,” second only to carbon dioxide (CO2) and is of particular concern in the Arctic, according to documents submitted to the IMO by Canada. When the soot-like substance gets deposited on snow and sea ice, it ends up absorbing more sun light, enhancing atmospheric and surface warming impacts.

“There are serious questions to be answered about how these blended super pollutant ‘Frankenstein’ fuels ever came to market,” said in a statement John Maggs of Seas at Risk, a European marine protection NGO. “It beggars belief that amidst a global climate crisis, the marine fuel industry could develop these VLSFOs without knowing their effect on black carbon emissions and the climate, particularly in the Arctic – especially as the IMO has spent almost a decade considering how to reduce black carbon emissions from shipping.”

EDIT

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2020/01/28/environmental-groups-sound-alarm-heavy-fuel-oil-shipping/