FRANCE--Oilseed Fuel May Help Mop up French Oil Spill

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

[Fair Use: For Education and Research Only]

Oilseed fuel may help mop up French oil spill

FRANCE: March 14, 2000 PARIS - A biodegradable fuel produced mostly from rapeseed has been drafted in to help fight a huge oil spill along France's Atlantic coast, the French oilseed association Prolea said yesterday.

France's pollution research centre CEDRE last week gave permission for workers mopping up the spill to use a vegetable oil-based fuel called diester to help clean coastal areas still soiled from the wreck of the tanker Erika.

Beaches along the western coast have mostly been cleaned but the oil has proven difficult to remove from the rugged cliffs and coves that face the ocean.

A spokeswoman for Prolea said a small coastal community, which she declined to name, was due to begin testing diester on rocks covered with the sticky oil on Monday.

If the product works as planned, its use will be expanded to other areas affected by the spill, the spokeswoman said.

Diester, an environment-friendly fuel, was introduced in France in the 1990s to reduce air pollution.

But it can also serve as a solvent to remove viscous products like the oil that has been seeping from the hull of the Erika since it sank in heavy seas last December, Prolea said.

Prolea said diester was especially suited to the task because it was non-toxic and posed no threat to wildlife.

Oil from the Erika has been washing up along a 400-km (250-mile) stretch of coastline, often bringing new carpets of sludge to beaches just cleared by armies of professional and volunteer cleaners.

France produced 250,000 tonnes of diester in 1999, or more than half of total European Union production of 470,000 tonnes.

The area of rapeseed devoted to diester production doubled in 1999 to 308,000 hectares, representing 22 percent of the total French rapeseed area, Prolea said.

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=5973

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), March 13, 2000


Moderation questions? read the FAQ