A new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, a US-based environmental advocacy group, details the massive amounts of pollution resulting from cheap fuel used by Chinese container ships, The New York Times reported. While many developed countries regulate the grade of fuel being used by ships upon port entry, China does not monitor fuel type, and many ships leaving China use cheap, high-polluting fuel only to switch to higher grade fuel just before entering a foreign port. The cheap, commonly used “bunker” oil is high in sulfur and leads to a single container ship emitting as much fuel pollution as “500,000 new Chinese trucks in a single day,” according to a summary of the report.
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