Fuelling the Future

MARINE BIOFUELS Fuelling the future Photo: Adobe Adobe Photo: Stock Marine biofuels are gaining everywhere around the world apart from new biofuel products is underway and the existing Baltic Sea, North Sea, North industry sources say the sector is, in turn, acceptance but the industry’s American and US Caribbean ECAs, where becoming more open to alternative fuel the sulphur limit is 0.1%. sources. adoption of alternative fuels Because the shipping sector is the “Over the next few years, biofuel will be faces challenges Gill Langham highest emitter of toxic sulphur oxide in the only available option to significantly the transportation industry, these limits reduce the carbon footprint of marine have been set by the United Nation’s fuel, which is essential if shipping is to The marine biofuel sector is still in its International Maritime Organization. In play its part in reaching global carbon infancy but with regulatory and market order to comply, ship owners must either reduction targets,” says Olivier Benny, drivers in place, it could comprise between use low-sulphur fuel, install scrubbers marketing director at international 5% and 10% of the global marine fuel on their ships to clean up emissions, biodiesel distributor Targray. mix by 2030, according to a report by the or switch to alternative fuels such as “Acceptance has grown rapidly in the International Energy Agency Bioenergy (IEA liquefied natural gas (LNG). international shipping sector these past Bioenergy). The regulation affects the world’s entire few years. One major shipping company Globally the shipping sector consumes shipping fleet of some 60,000 vessels. has already converted to biodiesel and more than 330M tonnes of fuel annually, According to the IEA Bioenergy: Task another is currently engaged in testing.” according to the European Technology 39 report ‘Biofuels for the Marine Shipping However, according to Richard and Innovation Platform (ETIP), with the Sector’, biofuels will be a key lever in the Matthews, a director at EA Gibson bulk of marine fuels produced from crude gradual process of decarbonisation of Shipbrokers, the industry is not yet fully oil. transportation, mainly from 2030 and committed to making the change to However, a combination of decreasing in sectors where electrification presents biofuels. supplies of crude oil, pressure on the challenges, such as aviation and maritime “Gradually we are seeing companies sector to reduce its environmental impact transport. experiment with biofuels, conducting test and tighter marine fuel regulations are However, the development of biofuels voyages for example, but we are not yet prompting the industry to seek alternative compatible with marine engines is still seeing companies commit to using large fuel sources with lower sulphur content in its early stages, and having sufficient volumes on a regular basis.” and a reduced carbon footprint. feedstock supply and reliable processing DNV GL, which provides advice to On 1 January 2020, the sulphur cap technologies to produce price-competitive the maritime industry, says it receives for marine fuels dropped from 3.5% to biofuel at a large scale remains many requests regarding safe operation 0.5% in areas outside current emission challenging. and how to comply with international control areas (ECAs) – essentially affecting Against this backdrop, research into regulations for the use of biofuels and/ u www.ofimagazine.com OFI – FEBRUARY 2021 29 MARINE BIOFUELS “While HVO production capacity is increasing at a fast rate, there is going to be a global shortage of sustainable feedstocks suitable for either biodiesel or HVO production,” the report says. For this reason, the report concludes that it seems likely that biofuels will play a minimal role in decarbonisation of the maritime sector, thanks mainly to it being more attractive for other applications. The cost of biofuels is also higher than the cost of fossil fuels and is expected to remain so in the short to medium term. “Marine biofuels are currently up to twice as expensive as conventional fuels, which is an important barrier for any ship operator who wants to use these fuels,” says Hans Anton Tvete, DNV GL’s maritime programme director in Group Technology and Research. “Most biofuels today are supplied through ports in the Netherlands, due Figure 1: Overview of different feedstock conversion routes to marine biofuels to price incentives that reduce the price Source: IEA Bioenergy: Task 39 report Task Bioenergy: IEA Source: premium and make these fuels more u or biofuel blends. However, marine commercial production of marine biofuels. attractive.” biofuels were not currently used in any Rapeseed oil is the preferred feedstock However, future regulations or market- significant volumes. Over the last year in the EU due to its favourable properties based mechanisms, such as CO2 taxes, there had been a lot of testing of various (oxidation stability, high yields per hectare). could make biofuels more economically types of biofuels by many ship operators, competitive, he says. according to Cristos Chryssakis, business Challenges development manager at DNV GL The immediate challenge is that the Test runs (Maritime). shipping sector has little knowledge on Several companies and research institutes “From a technical perspective the handling and applying biofuels as part of its are working on both the production experience is generally good, but the main fuel supply, according to the IEA Bioenergy of marine biofuels and testing of their barriers are the fuel cost, availability and report. compatibility with current infrastructure, a lack of a clear regulatory framework,” he Another factor is that the volumes of of which the US Navy has been a major says. biofuels required to supply the shipping player. sector are so high, with a single large As an initiative of the US federal Current biofuels ship potentially consuming the annual government, the IEA Energy Bioenergy The potential supply of sustainable production from a single medium-sized report says the US Navy has developed a renewable diesel with the current biofuel facility. scheme to establish the Great Green Fleet technology is an estimated 10-20M Of the current biofuels commercially to provide the navy with half of its fuel tonnes, according to the IEA Bioenergy available, the IEA Bioenergy report and power from clean, fossil-alternative report. says that only plant biodiesel derived sources by 2020, with biofuels providing Types of biofuel include FAME (fatty from plant oil or pulping residues and a significant portion of the alternative fuel acid methyl ester), HVO (hydrotreated bioethanol are produced at a level to mix. vegetable oil), and BTL (biomass to liquid supply significant volumes of fuel. German car manufacturer Volkswagen fuels). Another issue is that plant oil-based is using fuel made from used vegetable oil Blending conventional fuels with fuels are currently used at a significant from the catering and food industries for biofuels is an alternative way to reduce scale for bio jet fuels, leading to the sea transportation of its vehicles. fossil fuel consumption while introducing competition for feedstocks between the “We are putting the old oils to a compatible drop-in fuels in the fuel mix, shipping and aviation sectors. climate-friendly subsequent use. With the report says. According to DNV GL, In a report jointly produced by Channoil 85% less CO2 emissions compared to FAME is the most widely available type Consulting and EA Gibson Shipbrokers in conventional fossil fuel, the contribution of biodiesel in the industry and is often December 2020, the authors note that to climate protection is enormous,” says blended with regular marine diesel. although HVO is actively being developed Thomas Zernechel, head of Volkswagen by some bunker marketing organisations group logistics. Feedstocks and producers, the demand for HVO in Dutch biofuels supplier GoodFuels, Crops with a high lipid content, including the road diesel market is much stronger, produces its MR1-100 fuel, which is palm, soyabean and rapeseed, are driven by aggressive mandates in Europe comprised entirely from organic waste currently the main feedstocks for biodiesel, and California. The report notes that there products and its use does not require any according to the IEA Bioenergy report. is also increasing demand for HVO into engine modifications. However, the report notes that these the aviation sector. All these factors would Alfa Laval plans to test biofuel in the feedstocks are generally difficult to source probably eclipse HVO on the marine fuel DNV GL-classed DFDS Pearl Seaways. The cheaply and sustainably for an expanded scene. fuel, which is created through pyrolysis 30 OFI – FEBRUARY 2021 www.ofimagazine.com MARINE BIOFUELS of waste biomass, would be produced in India by MASH Energy. “New fuel alternatives are constantly being introduced to the marine industry, but the knowledge about their behaviour in marine fuel systems is limited. We want to extend that knowledge through testing, beginning with biofuels,” says Lars Bo Andersen, Alfa Laval test & training centre manager. International maritime infrastructure company Jan de Nul Group announced in September 2020 that its trailing suction hopper dredger, Alexander von Humboldt, had completed 2,000 hours operation on 100% renewable, second-generation biofuel oil (BFO). Introduced by GoodFuels in 2018, Photo: Adobe Adobe Photo: Stock the BFO is completely derived from Plant oil-based fuels are used at a significant

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