In 2006, the shipping industry burned about 300 million tons of bunker fuel, which has the consistency of mud and sulfur levels 3,000 times that of gasoline, must be heated simply to allow it to move through pipes to enter the engine cylinders, generates 15-30% of the world’s smog-forming emissions and is 1,000 times dirtier than highway diesel used by trucks and buses.
Posted by envirostats on Wednesday, October 10, 2007
300 million tons or “short tons” = 272 metric tonnes
Bunker fuel is the dirtiest grades of fuel – literally the dregs of the oil barrel after refiners have removed cleaner fuels like gasoline and jet fuel – to power the ship’s massive engines.
World smog emissions percentage in the headline statistic is from shipping’s use of bunker fuel, not all bunker fuel use. Smog emissions include all smog creating emissions, not just nitrogen and sulfur ones, taken as a percentage of some weighted total based on volume and possibly other factors.
Bunker fuel is also not the only type of fuel used by the shipping industry. A lot of other fuel and energy sources are used for non-engine functions like heating and lighting cruise ships, pumps in ballasts, etc. As a result, this statistic does not contradict Stat 0470 that stated emissions from the shipping industry was over 1 billion tonnes, which, if it were just on bunker fuels, would be scientifically impossible to have more emissions generated than fuel used, although through reactions, additional compounds could combine with fuel to create more emissions, but not often by this greater than 3:1 ratio.
- Bunker fuel volume, smog emission percentage, comparison to diesel by Earth Justice
- Descriptions of bunker fuel and comparison to sulfur emissions of gasoline via the New York Times, Feb 21 2004
