Transport of fuel ethers

In the handling of fuel ethers, it is particularly important that every effort is made to avoid releases into water and soil. Avoidance of emissions during transport and filling operations is therefore an important issue for the safe handling of all chemicals and protection of the environment and human health. A comprehensive range of detailed information is publicly available on fuel ethers, which Sustainable Fuels has augmented with its own documentation:

  • The Chemical Safety Reports for the REACH registrations of ETBE, MTBE and TAME prepared by the REACH consortium FERC contain basic information on the operational conditions for safe handling during filling operations. International transport regulations have to be followed during transport of fuel ethers. In particular the choice of suitable mode of transport and correct loading / unloading and storage at all points along the supply chain is essential.
  • The Sustainable Fuels MTBE Resource Guide contains a lot of information on safe handling, including detailed technical advice. The guide was created to support the requirements of the EU Risk Assessment Report to ensure that minimum technical standards were put in place for installations handling MTBE and petrol containing MTBE in order to minimise releases into the environment, especially water.
  • As major quantities of fuel ethers are transported on rivers, Sustainable Fuels has prepared a Code of best practice for barge transport (CoP). The goal is to reduce the number of discharges and spills caused by improper handling of fuel ethers by barges.
  • Sustainable Fuels’s continuous promotion of best practices for handling fuel ethers has resulted in 2009 in the number of peaks declining by about 50% compared to 2008 when the CoP was launched. The Sustainable Fuels CoP has been lauded as an example of good industry product stewardship and the German Central Commission for the Navigation on the Rhine (CCNR) has called for the formal adoption of the Sustainable Fuels CoP by the Rhine shipping industry.