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Inferior fuel for boats

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"Why should boat owners put up with inferior fuel? We should demand something better." Xleaded petrol starts to disappear, owners of older engines will either have to resort to using additives - or hunt around for one of the new, potassium based LRP (lead replacement petrol) alternatives which should begin appearing on garage fore courts this autumn. Whether or not marinas will start using it remains to be seen - all of which underlines the general drift towards diesel. Indeed, someone told me the other day that there was only one petrol pump left in the whole of the Irish Sea; perhaps we should carry out an audit for the rest of the UK. AnyhoW; if diesel is the preferred fuel, the next question we should ask is ­are we getting the right stuff? If you drive a diesel car, of course, you can fill up with ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) which, apart from anything else promises reduced emissions - but most red diesel you buy at the marina, is relatively unsophisticated -with a sulphur content of 2000 parts per million as opposed to 7 parts per million for the best ULSD. Not only will it cause less pollution, ULSD diesel might even reduce the risk of microbial bugs, particularly, of course, those that use the sulphur as food.There might be other advantages too: improved fuel consumption and lower maintenance costs are just a couple of interesting possibilities. So why can't we get our hands on it? Well, it's partly the government's fault. When they reduced the tax on low sulphur diesel in the last budget, they should have done something about red diesel too. After all, we're not just talking boats here - it's widely used in everything from tractors to trains, and they all create pollution.Having said that, one company at least is trying to raise awareness. who imports Greenenergy's ultra-low sulphur City Red Diesel from Sweden, thinks that boat owners should at least be given a choice. As he points out though, we should also realise that, without tax concessions, the higher quality product would probably cost around ten per cent more. And there's the rub.If we really want better fuel, are we prepared to pay for it?

 

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