In this file photo taken on March 18, 2016, a worker removes a tube of metallurgy coke from a container at the factory of the Metallurgical Coke Steel Industries in Wuhan, southern China’s Hubei Province.
REUTERS/Jason Lee/File PhotoThe world’s largest producer of oil is set to begin mass production of the world’s only industrial fuel additive that will replace the use of diesel fuel in some vehicles, with its new fuel being refined and blended into gasoline to make a fuel that can be blended with diesel fuel.
The fuel, metallurised oil, is designed to be a better alternative to diesel fuel, but the world is still using diesel for cars and trucks.
It is made from the waste products of refining oil and coal and is not subject to the same safety regulations as other petroleum products.
A total of 3.5 billion liters (11.8 million barrels) of metamaterials will be used to make the additive.
It has been produced by China’s state-owned Metallurgical Co-operation Corporation (MCOC), the worlds largest producer.
It is made up of a mixture of copper, zinc, manganese, iron, aluminum, and nickel and can be refined and combined with gasoline to create a fuel which is also a cleaner alternative to other fuels.
A pilot programme was launched in October 2016, with the first shipments of the fuel being sent out in November last year.
It was tested on a test fleet of three cars in early February and was certified by the government in April.
It will be delivered to major automakers later this year.
The US state of California has ordered 3.4 million metric tonnes of the additive, according to the state’s Department of Transportation.
The fuel will be sold in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.
It comes as the US is gearing up for a global oil glut, and oil prices have plunged as a result.
In the US, the benchmark Brent crude oil traded at a US$33 a barrel on Tuesday, down about 10 cents from last week.
Brent is down more than 25 percent since the beginning of the year.
It is still trading below US$45 a barrel, down from the current $48.50 a barrel.
China, the world leader in producing and refining petroleum products, has also announced that it will start selling the fuel in the coming months.
It will be available to the Chinese national fuel oil market in 2020, said the company, according the official Xinhua news agency.
China’s largest refinery, Xinjiang, has already sold fuel in other markets and will also start selling metallourised oil in 2020.
