Gas-to-Liquids Technology

Lindsay Fiel

April 6, 2016

Gas to liquids technology turns natural gas into liquid fuel. GTL is useful as a base oil for lubricants and other liquid oil products. Basically, it is a higher quality energy source made from the cleanest-burning fossil fuel- natural gas. GTL is an excellent transportation fuel, motor oil, and ingredient in plastics, detergents and cosmetic products.

GTL fuel is now used in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, to fuel the Blue Boats that carry passenger through the city canals. The switch from diesel to GTL fuel ensures that the engines run quieter, improve engine combustion, and most importantly, produces fewer harmful emissions. The NOx emissions and emissions of particulate matter ae reduced by 20 to 40 percent.

Blue Boat Company asserts that it intends to transition to an entirely emissions-free fleet of boats, in accordance with the city’s stated objectives on clean energy. The Municipality of Amsterdam has made a goal for all tour boats to be emission-free by the year 2025.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals aim to achieve “universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services” by 2030. Further, by 2030 the UN Sustainable Development Goals aim to achieve enhanced access to cleaner fossil fuel technology. GTL is an excellent example of a cleaner fossil fuel that will enable cities such as Amsterdam to further the UN Sustainable Development objectives.

Sources:

Gas to Liquids, http://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/natural-gas/gas-to-liquids.html

Blue Boat Company: canal boats on cleaner GTL, http://amsterdamsmartcity.com/news/detail/id/913/slug/.

UN Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 7 Targets, http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/energy/.