Fuel Shipping and Bioremediation
摘要
Fuel shipping is essential for the global energy supply chain, facilitating the transportation of crude oil, refined petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, and other fuels. However, fuel shipping poses significant environmental risks, including oil spills that can devastate marine ecosystems, local economies, and public health. This chapter analyzes the fuel shipping industry’s critical role in the global energy supply chain and the significant environmental risks posed by fuel spills, such as those from the Exxon Valdez, Deepwater Horizon, Erika, and Prestige incidents. It emphasizes the severe impacts of these spills on marine ecosystems, economies, and public health. It also highlights bioremediation as a sustainable solution for mitigating fuel spill effects, detailing the microbial degradation of hydrocarbons and factors influencing bioremediation efficacy, including temperature, pH, salinity, and nutrient availability. Various bioremediation techniques—bioaugmentation, biostimulation, and natural attenuation—are explored, along with their integration with other cleanup methods like chemical dispersants and mechanical recovery. The importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and supportive policy frameworks for effective fuel spill cleanup is discussed, with recommendations for future research directions in bioremediation.