Meet the World's First Digital Smart Ship, the Japanese Built LNG-Fueled PCTC Sakura Leader
The run up to 2050 and dramatic reductions in emissions from ships will, by most expert’s thinking, be an evolution of small steps premised on melding new fuels and digitalization technologies. The recent delivery of the LNG-fueled PCTC Sakura Leader to NYK can be considered a sizable leap in this regard, as the ship has been designated as the world’s first digital smart ship.A Big Step Toward CO2 Reduction TargetsOn October 28, NYK took delivery of Sakura Leader, a pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) capable of navigating oceans with only LNG as the ship’s main fuel.
Total CEO: Governments Not Oil Firms Must Drive Carbon Curbs
It is up to governments to drive decarbonisation and consumers will have to pay more to achieve carbon neutrality, Total's chief executive said, adding the French firm has no intention of moving away from oil and gas production.Oil firms should not be seen as "villains" amid growing pressure from investors and climate activists, chief executive and chairman Patrick Pouyanne told Reuters at Total's headquarters in the Scottish oil hub of Aberdeen.Giving up on oil and gas would be "a huge mistake", partly because it pays for investment in green technology…
EU Aims to Block U.S. Sanctions on Iran
The European Union vowed on Monday to counter U.S. President Donald Trump's renewal of sanctions on Iran, in a test of the EU's ability to preserve a deal that saw Iran limit its nuclear ambitions in exchange for removing strict curbs on its economy.As Washington's so-called "snapback" sanctions are reinstated on Tuesday, a new EU law to shield European companies will also take effect to try to mitigate what EU officials say is their "unlawful" reach beyond U.S. borders.Despite protests from European allies, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would fully enforce the sanctions.
U.S. Sticking to Biofuel 'blend wall'
U.S. authorities are set to shake up the nation's complex and contentious renewable fuels policy in the coming days, issuing requirements expected to affirm that use of ethanol in motor fuels has, for now, hit a saturation point. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has pledged by June 1 to release proposals for the amount of ethanol, biodiesel and cellulosic fuels - made of plant waste - that must be mixed into motor fuel for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016, targets that are up to a year and a half behind schedule.
Oil Trains Face Test in New US Safety Rules
North Dakota's Bakken oil patch has thrived thanks in large part to the once-niche business of hauling fuel on U.S. rail tracks. New safety rules may now test the oil train model. Within weeks, the Obama Administration is due to unveil a suite of reforms that will rewrite standards conceived long before the rise of the shale oil renaissance, at a time when crude rarely moved by rail and few Americans had ever seen the mile-long oil trains that now crisscross the nation. Taken separately, the changes appear incremental - a question of a fraction of an inch of steel in tank cars…
U.S. Rules Could Settle Tank Car Dispute For Oil-By-Rail Sector
New rules on moving hazardous materials like crude oil on U.S. railroads could settle a dispute between the energy industry and rail companies that boils down to a fraction of an inch of steel in the frame of each tank car. U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx wrote Thursday in a blog post that his agency would send its proposals to the White House for review next week. The proposal will include "options for enhancing tank car standards," he said. Leaders of the energy and rail sectors will likely…
US Urges Rail Sector to Agree on Safer Tank Car
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Wednesday asked oil-by-rail leaders to create a tank car fit to carry the kinds of fuel involved in recent fiery derailments even as he dodged lawmaker questions about when such a plan would be ready. Rail shipments of oil have been on the rise in regions that lack sufficient pipelines such as North Dakota's Bakken energy patch, where production is nearing 1 million barrels per day and roughly 72 percent of that fuel moves on the tracks. But several accidents saw the rail cargoes explode with surprising force since summer, prompting demands for a tougher tank car to carry the fuel.
