Preliminary ecotoxicity assessment of new generation alternative fuels in seawater

• Initial findings on aquatic toxicity of new generation alternative fuels.
• US Navy alternative fuels less environmentally toxic than fossil fuels.
• Comparison of ecotoxicity of petroleum-based and new generation biofuels.
• Alternative fuel PAH and VOCs in seawater lower than conventional fuels.
• Sea urchin embryos more sensitive than other endpoints to alternative fuels.

The United States Navy (USN) is currently demonstrating the viability of environmentally sustainable alternative fuels to power its fleet comprised of aircraft and ships. As with any fuel used in a maritime setting, there is potential for introduction into the environment through transport, storage, and spills. However, while alternative fuels are often presumed to be eco-friendly relative to conventional petroleum-based fuels, their environmental fate and effects on marine environments are essentially unknown. Here, standard laboratory-based toxicity experiments were conducted for two alternative fuels, jet fuel derived from Camelina sativa (wild flax) seeds (HRJ5) and diesel fuel derived from algae (HRD76), and two conventional counterparts, jet fuel (JP5) and ship diesel (F76). Initial toxicity tests performed on water-accommodated fractions (WAF) from neat fuels partitioned into seawater, using four standard marine species in acute and chronic/sublethal tests, indicate that the alternative fuels are significantly less toxic to marine organisms.

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