Month: February 2020

Posted on by regroup

The Problems With Red Diesel Revealed

You may well have heard of red diesel before, particularly if you’re in the farming or construction industries, as it is widely used in sectors such as these. Quite simply, it’s exactly the same as typical diesel except that a red dye has been added to it so that illegal use can be detected.

Both gas oil (or red diesel) and kerosene are both taxed at a lower rate because they’re not meant to be used in road vehicles. It is, in fact, illegal to use rebated oils such as these in road vehicles unless a licence is obtained from HMRC to settle the difference between the full rate of fuel duty and the rebated rate.

And now, according to Farmers Weekly, some issues with red diesel use are starting to become apparent because people are also now legally required to increase the amount of fuels derived from renewable sources.

Late last year, reports were incoming that fuel filters were being blocked because of the increasing amount of biodiesel being blended with gas oil. This biodiesel is also known as fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), made from some animal fats, as well as fresh and recycled vegetable oils.

Incidents were predominantly confined to East Anglia and Scotland, which suggests that there is something amiss with the fuel itself, instead of sub-par storage – with some saying that this was why there were issues with the fuel quality.

Although tests carried out by the UK Petroleum Industry Association found that all fuels were found to meet current standards, further testing by a leading fuel additive producer indicated that there could be an issue with insoluble particles falling out of fuel blends.

Technical manager with Fuel Additive Science Technology Julia Mansfield explained that the fuels had high contamination levels and particulate counts. Substances like monoglycerides and sterol glucosides can drop out of biodiesel components, which is exacerbated at low temperatures.

With winter certainly not done with us yet by any stretch of the imagination, it’s certainly worth preparing for potential dips in temperature where red diesel is concerned.

This could include looking for fuel alternatives such as Multiburn Max (although this is only for heating purposes and not vehicles). This is a very popular industrial heating oil that offers huge benefits over gas oil, including significant financial savings.

It has similar properties to gas oil with an equivalent energy value, but it’s a lot cheaper and boasts excellent low temperature storage and burning performance. It’s perfect for commercial boilers, furnace start-up and agricultural driers, with companies in a range of manufacturing sectors taking advantage, from distilleries and breweries to food processors. In addition to providing a commercial saving, Multiburn Max offers a reduction in carbon equivalent emissions of more than 3% in comparison to gas oil.

Here at Re:Group, our fuels are created for industrial heat generation and commercial boilers and we retain absolute control over the entire manufacturing process. From storage and blending to analytical expertise and distribution. Get in touch with us today to find out more.

Posted on by regroup

Finland Revises Waste Disposal Regulations For Ports

Finland has announced that changes will be made to the Act on Environmental Protection in Maritime Transport in order to improve the treatment and reception of waste in the country’s ports, while reducing the amount of marine litter and plastic being discharged into the sea.

Key concepts include advance waste notification, clarification of the adequacy of facilities and the delivery of waste to reception facilities will all be clarified, while provisions on exemptions for ships in scheduled traffic will be harmonised, Euroshore reports.

The separate collection of different waste types will now have to be arranged in ports and ports will have to grant discounts in the future on waste fees to ships that are ensuring that waste is managed in an environmentally friendly way.

Monitoring of the waste situation will also be increased in the future, with a minimum of 15 per cent of all individual ships calling into ports each year due to be inspected.

Discharges of waste at sea still take place, despite developments having been made in international regulation regarding emissions. There are numerous reasons for this, such as inadequate port reception facilities, insufficient enforcement, a lack of incentives to deliver said waste onshore and so on… but these issues are now being addressed.

For example, in Helsinki, the capacity to receive waste is good and foreign cruise ships are also now delivering sewage in-port.

Finland’s Ministry of Transport and Communications is now putting together legislation that will ensure the amendments required by the EU directive on port reception facilities for the delivery of waste from ships. A consultation is now due to be held for the key stakeholders, with a draft government proposal put forward for comments in the spring.

In order to limit and control sea discharge, ports will now have to provide adequate facilities to collect all sorts of waste – and storing waste onboard will only be seen to make sense when ships can transfer it to shore-based facilities.

The review, which took place in 2018, intended to improve the protection of the marine environment and also ensure the efficiency of maritime transport operations in ports.

It has been agreed that ships will have to pay an indirect fee, regardless of waste delivery. This will cover all ship waste (apart from that which has been created from scrubbers and for cargo residues). Extra charges can be imposed if the amount of waste exceeds the maximum dedicated storage capacity of the port in question.

Smaller non-commercial ports that see low or seasonal traffic will not have to put waste reception plans together if their port waste collection comes under the municipal waste handling system.

For help with waste oil collection, get in touch with us today.