I recently bought a TDI

I used to drive a car that used about 7 liters of premium gasoline per 100 km. Since I do a lot of driving, I jumped on the opportunity to purchase a Jetta TDI, anticipating lower fuel costs.

Here is my first assessment of my ecological performance, using the conversion figures as per the Canadian GHG summaries.

What I used to do on about 63 liters of premium gasoline I now do on about 45 liters of diesel fuel, I am using about 25% less fuel! By using less fuel and one requiring less energy input in the refining process, the proportional GHG reduction at the refinery level is about 27.5% (using the price difference as indicator of energy requirement).

The GHG emissions (in CO2 equivalents) from my use of the car changes from 7 x 2.45kg/l = 17.15kg/100km (for the premium gasoline powered vehicle) previously to 5 x 2.80kg/l = 14.00kg/100km. My environmental footprint is reduced by about 18%.

SOx (and with it PM) is a wash as both fuels have similar S-content.

All in all, I am satisfied with my GHG reductions so far.

In ecolonomic speak (ecological and economic benefits), there is a pretty good correlation between the 25% financial benefit and the over 18% GHG reduction.

The Bilge Water Discharge Line

Treated bilge water is considered an oil free effluent under the pollution prevention regulations.Therefore a port state control officer (PSCO) may expect that the O/B discharge line is completely free of oil.

Our experience with shipboard work is that sight glasses, installed in the O/B discharge line, become oil coated with time. Therefore, in a ship that processes a lot of bilge water, the same thing will happen in the discharge piping; traces of oil will become visible in the piping. The more bilge water is processed the more severe the oil accumulation.

Another factor that increases oil accumulation in the discharge line is when a 3-way valve is used to divert non-compliant effluent back to the bilge. Whenever the ppm level of the effluent exceeds the permitted discharge level, the pipe run between bilge separator and discharge shut-down device becomes contaminated.

We suggest therefore annual cleaning of the O/B discharge line, to make sure no oil shows in the line when a flange connection is broken. we suggest including this procedure in your best practices.

Bilge Water Management

The United States (USCG and Dept. of Justice) recommend companies have in place a vigorously implemented management plan for bilge water, which should include a budget, adequate shipboard spares and training of the crew. The July 9, 2010 DoJ press release on the plea agreement with Irika Shipping is the first time I see reference made to the above. As stated previously, a vigorously implemented environmental management plan can reduce or prevent criminal charges against the officers and corporation.