TPT September 2013

Global Marketplace

Mr Austen reported that a power station at Point Aconi in Nova Scotia that uses petcoke has an unusual burning system that minimises some forms of pollution from high-sulphur fuels. Documents suggested that it is Nova Scotia Power’s heaviest user of petroleum coke. “The Point Aconi plant, which opened in 1994, was initially promoted as a way to keep a local coal mine open,” Mr Austen wrote. “But the mine closed anyway and the power station now relies entirely on imported fuel.” › The problem of the oil sands byproduct being stored in open air near the river bank remained unresolved on 24 June, when the TV news programmme “Michigan Live” covered protest marches through Southwest Detroit and in Windsor, as local residents and politicians called again for action. According to the Times (6 June), “Despite the regular visits to Detroit by ships to take away the petcoke, the oil sands bitumen refinery there is producing the material at a rate which means the waterfront pile continues to grow.” At this writing, the Obama administration is still mulling whether to approve or reject the highly controversial Keystone XL pipeline. If the project does get the green light, it would send more oil sands bitumen from Canada to refineries in the US and increase the amount of American petroleum coke accordingly.

processing heavy bitumen piped from the oil sands of Alberta to a Detroit refinery. In late spring, an electrical power plant owned by Canada’s Nova Scotia Power began burning the high-carbon, high- sulphur waste product (“petcoke,” in oil industry parlance). A spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Power confirmed to Mr Austen that the company had “bought fuel from that location.” Citing “competitive reasons,” she declined to offer specifics. (“Canadian Utility Finds a Use for Detroit’s Pile of Oil Sands Byproduct,” 6 June) According to the Times the final destination of the petcoke had been something of a mystery. A particularly high emitter of greenhouse gases, it is used mainly as inexpensive fuel in countries like China, India and Mexico with relatively lenient emissions controls. He wrote, “Environmentalists were concerned not only about the impact of the growing pile in Detroit but also about where the material would be burned.” Writing from Ottawa, the Canadian capital, Mr Austen said that observers on both sides of the river had noted regular visits to the coke pile by two self-unloading, oceangoing bulk carriers owned by Canada Steamship Lines, of Montreal. Websites that track ship movements indicated that one ship, the Atlantic Huron , made several trips this year from Detroit to a coal terminal in Sydney, Nova Scotia. According to regulatory documents, that terminal services two Nova Scotia Power plants that burn petroleum coke.

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September 2013

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