Tongji University-Led Arctic Council PAME/EPPR Joint Research Project Achieves Significant Progress

On April 2, 2024, the State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse at Tongji University (TJU), in collaboration with the Arctic Council's PAME/EPPR working groups, announced significant progress in the international research project "Low Sulphur Fuels: Fate and Behaviour in Cold Water Conditions." Tongji University, alongside internationally renowned research institutions including SINTEF (Norwegian Research Institute), ECCC (Canada’s Environment and Climate Change Committee), and USEPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency), jointly published a research report titled "Environmental Characteristics of Low Sulphur Fuels in Polar Waters" (ISBN: 978-82-14-07790-2).

The report summarizes testing results from five participating institutions across the United States, Canada, China, Sweden, and Norway. It links the physical and chemical characteristics of low-sulphur fuels with their environmental behaviour and biological toxicity in the event of spills in cold or Arctic waters. These findings offer a Chinese technical framework for environmental risk assessment during the use of low-sulphur fuels in polar waters, providing an exemplary case of international collaboration in Arctic governance.

Low-sulphur fuels are among the primary fuels used for Arctic shipping routes. To better understand global requirements for their usage and the potential constraints on fuel selection for Arctic routes, Professor Lu Zhibo of Tongji University, with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources, has led the environmental risk assessment project since 2019. Key initiatives include establishing a pilot-scale low-temperature simulation laboratory platform, creating a low-sulphur fuel sample library, and developing pre-treatment and testing protocols. Professors Zhang Weixian and Lin Sijie from the College of Environmental Science and Engineering, along with Professor Zhao Hongying from the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, also contributed significantly to the research.

In 2024, marking the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Norway, Tongji University remains committed to fostering Sino-Norwegian cooperation in critical areas such as marine environmental governance and sustainable development. This collaboration sets a model for win-win partnerships in global environmental governance and sustainability.