NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Philadelphia-based oil refiner Sunoco Inc. (SUN) outlined 2008-2009 projects at two of its plants at an analyst meeting Wednesday.

The work will increase the company’s production of recently introduced ultra-low sulfur diesel, head of refining Joel Maness said.

The projects are in line with shifts in the company’s strategy toward maximizing its output of transportation fuels and toward conversion projects instead of crude capacity expansion.

From eemsonline.co.uk

The Banbury, UK based company Triple Eight Race Engineering, which runs the factory backed Vauxhall team, VX Racing, in the British Touring Car Championship, has launched a new turbo diesel powered rally car, the Vauxhall Astra RallyD.

The car, based on the FIA homologated Astra Sport Hatch 1.9 CDTi, is designed to Group N regulations and is powered by a 200hp – 440Nm diesel engine. The project has the support of General Motors Europe brands Vauxhall and Opel.

From autoindustry.co.uk

Audi Sport is aiming to become the first manufacturer to win the Le Mans 24 Hours with bio-fuel in 2008, having become the first manufacturer to win the race with a diesel engined car in June 2006.

Speaking at the recent World Motorsport Symposium in London, Audi Sport’s head of engine technology Ulrich Baretzky said, “We want to use the R10 programme to develop combustion technology for a future target for us in the VW Audi Group. That is to go a step beyond oil and gas based fuels. As soon as possible we would like to use Biomass to Liquid (BTL) fuel. That means that we will be using synthetic fuels made from renewable sources. The best part is that the transformation process can be CO2 neutral. All of the C02 absorbed by the plant is burned. That’s environmentally friendly motorsport and we hope to introduce BTL fuel in 2008.”

Washington, D.C. — New, cleaner diesel fuel is producing cleaner air, according to preliminary surveys and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Surveys of retail stations since mid-October show that about 85 percent of highway diesel fuel meets Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) standards, exceeding the 80 percent regulatory mandate. 100 percent of highway diesel fuel must meet the ULSD standards by 2010.

“These results show that we are making significant progress in protecting the environment and public health,” said Bill Wehrum, EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.

Summary

Zytek’s contribution to the Ultra Low Carbon Car Challenge has created a new hybrid powertrain technology that for the first time makes ultra-low carbon emissions affordable in the most popular classes of vehicle. Using zero emissions electric drive and energy from an overnight recharge, the vehicle can make a return journey across London’s extended congestion charge zone for just eight pence. The innovative dual-mode diesel hybrid comfortably exceeds all the targets set by the ULCCC, with better performance and lower emissions, and is ready for applications engineering to bring it to production.

“For the first time, we have a simple, affordable hybrid solution. And it’s British,” says Stephen Hart, transport programme manager with the EST. “This is a considerable achievement. There is currently no production diesel hybrid and nothing that meets comparable cost targets. With Zytek’s technology, I can see this changing fairly soon.”

Nissan Motor Co said on Monday it will release vehicles equipped with new, environment-friendly diesel engines, in the Japanese, North American and Chinese markets in fiscal 2010.

The release of the new vehicles will be part of the Nissan Green Program 2010, a medium-term environmental action plan, that also includes a project to launch a gasoline-electric hybrid car, based on Nissan’s own technologies, in fiscal 2010 for the Japanese and North American markets, the automaker said.

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