The Volkswagen Group on Thursday (26 November) said it is planning to use certified fuel from vegetable residues for certain new car shipments via marine routes. The fuel is produced from materials such as used oil from restaurants and the food industry.
The first car freighter was re-fuelled for the first time with this oil in mid-November 2020 and a second ship is due to follow at the beginning of 2021.
“We are the first automaker to make widespread use of this fuel. This way, we reuse waste oil in an environmentally compatible way. With 85% lower CO2 emissions than with conventional fossil fuels, the contribution to climate protection is enormous,” says Thomas Zernechel, Head of Volkswagen Group Logistics.
For European shipments, Volkswagen Group Logistics continuously charters two vessels which carry up to 3,500 vehicles on a route from Emden via Dublin (Ireland), Santander (Spain) and Setubal (Portugal) back to Emden about 50 times per year.
In the course of their journeys, they carry about 250,000 new vehicles of the AUDI, SEAT, ŠKODA, Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands every year.
The two ships, which are both 180 meters long, are each powered by an MAN marine diesel with more than 19,000 PS (14,220 kW).
In future, the two ships are to be refuelled at sea off the coast of Vlissingen (Netherlands) with alternative fuel supplied by the Dutch company GoodFuels.
This way, the CO2 emissions of the two conventional vessels along their route will be reduced by more than 85 percent – from over 60,000 to about 9,000 tonnes per year. In addition, sulphur oxide emissions will be almost completely avoided.
This change is part of a strategy to make Group Logistics even greener: another element is the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power car freighters.
These vessels travel between Europe, North America and Latin America. Furthermore, all rail shipments in Germany with DB Cargo are being changed over to eco-power.
“This way, Volkswagen Group Logistics is helping the Group achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050,” says Zernechel.
Photo credit: Volkswagen Group
Published: 27 November, 2020
‘IDEALFUEL is aiming to develop methods to convert a polymer found in woody materials such as sawdust and wood chips into renewable marine fuels,’ it said.
The Methanol Institute and DNV GL aims to provide shipowners with the information they need to make decisions about adoption of methanol as a viable bunker fuel.
Project will adopt a holistic approach to address challenges in adopting ammonia as a bunker fuel and focus on cross-sector collaboration to overcome them, says GMF.
Waterfront Shipping, Marinvest, IINO Kaiun Kaisha, Mitsui, and NYK Group make investment for four vessels.
Working group aims to introduce methane synthesized through methanation technology as a marine fuel.
MAN Energy will provide the solutions in association with Aspin Kemp & Associates, in which it has a 40% stake.
The top three positive movers in the 2020 bunker supplier list are Hong Lam Fuels Pte Ltd (+13); Chevron Singapore Pte Ltd (+12); and SK Energy International (+8), according to MPA list.
‘We will operate in the Singapore bunkering market from the Tokyo, with support from local staff at Sumitomo Corporation Singapore,’ source tells Manifold Times.
Changes include abolishing advance declaration of bunkers as dangerous cargo, reducing pilotage fees on vessels receiving bunkers, and a ‘whitelist’ system for bunker tankers.
Claim relates to deliveries of MGO to the vessels Pacific Diligence, Pacific Valkyrie, Pacific Defiance, Crest Alpha 1, and Pacific Warlock between March 2020 to April 2020.
3,490 mt of LSFO from Itochu Enex was lifted at Universal Terminal; the same bunker stem was bought by Global Marine Logistics and delivered by bunker tanker Juma to receiving vessel Kirana Nawa.
Representatives of Veritas Petroleum Services, Maersk, INTERTANKO, ElbOil Singapore, and SDE International provide insight from their respective fields of expertise on what lies ahead.
