Alternative Fuels

Dubai: Shipowners and peers discuss realities of biofuel adoption at VPS Biofuels Seminar

ADNOC L&S, Gulf Energy Maritime, Cockett Marine Oil, Mideast/Bahri Ship Management and VPS experts present their views on biofuel bunker hurdles at the VPS Biofuels Seminar in Dubai on 16 March.

Published

2 years ago

March 22, 2023

Admin

Challenges of adopting biofuel as part of shipping’s decarbonisation drive were amongst topics discussed by expert panelists at the VPS Biofuels Seminar in Dubai on Thursday (16 March).

The session found local United Arab Emirates-based players already engaging in respective emission reduction trials before IMO 2030 – with many arriving at their own set of conclusions.

ADNOC L&S – Embracing biofuels in the ‘year of sustainability’

Eng Khalid Al Shehhi, Marine Projects Manager, ADNOC L&S noted the maritime logistics arm of ADNOC Group already adopting biofuels for certain commercial operations on the back of “very successful” biofuel trials completed earlier in 2020.

He noted relationship with OEMs as key to supporting ADNOC L&S’ plan of using B20 biofuel; however, the company eventually decided to commit to B5 biofuel even though vessels initially passed B20 trials.

“One of the primary challenges in adopting alternative fuels [biofuel] is the high cost when compared to conventional fossil fuels. As a consequence of our biofuel trials, we determined B5 blend as being more suited for our operating model and emission reductions aim,” he said.

Eng Khalid noted 2023 to be the “year of sustainability” for the UAE due to the upcoming 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) to be held in the region.

“Our efforts at ADNOC L&S are motivated by ADNOC sustainability targets for 2030 and IMO future emissions reduction targets; for this, we are investigating viable decarbonisation alternatives, with biofuels serving as a viable drop-in option.”

Gulf Energy Maritime – Alternative marine fuels ‘a gamble’ for shipowners

Rajeev Gupta, Head of Fleet, Gulf Energy Maritime (GEM) said shipowners such as themselves are facing challenges sourcing for alternative bunker fuels even though the sector has been focusing on decarbonisation.

“It's not an easy decision selecting the engine for a newbuilding today but I would probably go for a dual fuel LNG engine just because there is some infrastructure for bunkering LNG,” said Rajeev.

“As Eng Khalid mentioned, cost is certainly an issue and it's not an easy decision for an operator to take that extra cost because the charterers are not going to pay extra for more expensive bunker fuel.”

He noted methanol to be a marine fuel favouring chemical tankers but showed apprehension to ammonia being used as a bunker fuel due to its potential dangers.

“It’s a multi-faceted problem and there are no quick solutions that are cheap and easily available; so, I would say it’s a gamble,” highlighted Rajeev.

“IMO is implementing the regulation but the governments and port states are still far behind in implementing the infrastructure to be able to provide these fuels.

“Unfortunately, the owners become the guinea pigs of having to comply with the regulation, install an engine, but then go searching around the world for suitable fuel.”

Cockett Marine Oil – Biofuels a ‘chicken and egg’ situation

Colin Holloway, Global Head-Technical, Cockett Marine Oil meanwhile noted the firm experiencing a lack of mainstream demand for alternative bunker fuels, including biofuels, but believed marine fuel suppliers will gladly provide avails when enquiries increase.

“I think we’ve already got the idea that it’s a chicken and egg situation. To be honest, to date, we don’t see very much enquiries for biofuel in the UAE and because of that, there’s probably not much availability,” shared Holloway.

“There are a few minor suppliers that are supplying biofuel by truck where you can purchase biodiesel [i.e. B5, B15, etc] but in the interim we can say demand for biofuels have not picked up in the main stream bunker business.

“There is availability for biofuel but not on the scale that is probably needed at this time. However, I am sure the trading companies will supply when demand hits and especially when EU regulations bite from 2024 onwards.”

Mideast/Bahri Ship Management – Adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ approach towards biofuels

Hendrik Atsma, Snr Manager, Mideast/Bahri Ship Management, noted the company has currently applied a wait-and-see approach towards the adoption of biofuels as bunkers for its fleet.

Though certain countries have been implementing subsidies to assist local shipowners in adopting biofuels for their fleets, Atsma felt biofuels do not present a complete solution towards decarbonisation due to potential environmental issues such as deforestation. So, footprint and fingerprint of biofuels sources will be important.

“We do our research for biofuels and are also in talks with engine makers and bunker suppliers,” he said.

“At some point, we even had the idea of starting a trial although unfortunately we decided not to go ahead because of liability issues. We will wait and see what some of the other major players are doing.”

VPS – Biofuel carriage misalignment of flag states, port authorities present hurdle

Captain Rahul Choudhuri, Managing Director for Asia, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) at VPS, who was moderating the session, called attention to the current misalignment of biofuel policies between flag states and port authorities as a hurdle for its adoption as a marine fuel.

IMO’s Marine Environment Committee in June 2022 approved a new Unified Interpretation (UI) on the application of regulation 18.3 MARPOL Annex VI in relation to biofuels, allowing biofuel blends up to B30 be regarded in the same way as regular oil-based fuels.

“The current MARPOL Annex II allows carriage of up to 24% FAME; however in principle, if you’re above that limit, then as a bunker tanker or bunker barge, you can’t carry it unless you have a chemical tanker notation,” explained Captain Choudhuri.

“Whereas for example, Singapore has implemented a biofuel standard called the WA 2:2022 which allows carriage of up to 50% FAME.

“That brings the position of flag states into play because at the moment vessels, owners and operators need flag state approval before they carry and burn biofuel. This means though Singapore is fine with its bunker tankers and flagged vessels burning biofuels, the other flags might not be agreeable.

“There’s a need for MARPOL, port authorities and flag states to align respective policies, including the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) & CII (Carbon Intensity Indicator) on the carriage of biofuels because this difference will be a potential hurdle when the product becomes a mainstream bunker fuel.”

Photo credit: VPS
Published: 22 March, 2023

Biofuel

Singapore: GCMD introduces new technique for FAME bio bunker fuel fingerprinting

Fingerprinting identifies feedstock origins of FAME-based biofuels used in shipping industry; can be used as a potential tool to detect fraud in marine fuel supply chains and ensure biofuel authenticity.

Published

9 hours ago

December 2, 2024

Admin

Singapore: GCMD introduces new technique for FAME bio bunker fuel fingerprinting

The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) on Monday (2 December) released its latest report, presenting a new technique that creates a fingerprint for Fatty Acid Methyl Esters(FAME) bio bunker fuels.

This fingerprint identifies the feedstock origins of the FAME-based biofuels used in the shipping industry.

GCMD said FAME fingerprinting is needed as the shipping sector is increasingly using biofuels, such as FAME, to reduce its GHG emissions. With that, concerns have arisen regarding the legitimacy of biofuels and whether they are truly sustainable.

Industry bodies are seeing a rising number of cases mislabelling biofuels purported to be made from recycled oils and fats, while suspicions persist that they might be produced from cheaper and less sustainable virgin oils.

“To address these concerns, FAME fingerprinting can be used as a potential tool to detect fraud in marine fuel supply chains and ensure biofuel authenticity. By providing a physical validation method that complements existing certification schemes, FAME fingerprinting can help justify the green premium with genuine environmental benefits and safeguard the integrity of marine fuels supply chain,” GCMD said.

FAME fingerprinting is based on the principle that the fatty acid profile of FAME is unique to its feedstock and can be preserved during feedstock transesterification to produce FAME. The "fingerprint" can then be compared against a database of known fatty acid profiles to identify the feedstock origin.

GCMD worked with VPS who modified existing fuel testing methods to carry out sample analyses using a gas chromatograph with flame-ionisation detection, an instrument commonly found in fuel test laboratories.

The analysis takes about an hour, comparable to the turnaround time for current marine fuel quality testing in the supply chain.

“We have tested this method on a variety of FAME samples from different suppliers, including virgin oils, used cooking oils, palm oil mill effluent, beef tallow and food waste and were able to identify the feedstock origins for each sample,” GCMD added.

Manifold Times previously reported Captain Rahul Choudhuri, President, Strategic Partnerships at marine fuels testing company VPS, forecasting the use of finger printing technology today will likely establish a blueprint of how future alternative bunker fuels’ feedstocks are authenticated.

Captain Choudhuri said this when he gave an update of VPS’ biofuels finger printing trials with GCMD.

Note: The full report, titled ‘Rapid forensic analysis of FAME-based biofuels: Potential use of its fingerprint as a fraud detection tool’, can be downloaded here.

Photo credit: Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation
Published: 2 December, 2024

Methanol

PLAGEN to produce and supply green methanol bunker fuel with Latvia plant

Korean firm’s MoU with AE Risinājumi will see construction of Latvia’s first commercial-scale green methanol production plant, which will supply green methanol to ships in EU’s maritime fleet.

Published

9 hours ago

December 2, 2024

Admin

PLAGEN to produce and supply green methanol bunker fuel with Latvia plant

South Korean clean energy firm PLAGEN on Friday (29 November) signed an MOU with Latvian company, AE Risinājumi, for the production of green methanol in Latvia at the “2024 Latvia-Korea Business Forum” hosted by the President of Latvia.

The agreement will result in the construction of Latvia's first commercial-scale green methanol production plant, which will supply green methanol to ships in the EU's maritime fleet, contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transportation.

PLAGEN's MoU aims to produce 20,000 metric tonnes (mt) of green methanol per year and will begin feasibility studies in the first half of 2025, and full-scale production will begin in 2028.

With 53% of Latvia's land area covered by forests, timber production and wood processing make a significant contribution to Latvia’s economic production, which generates a large amount of forest residues and wood wastes. In addition, Latvia also has an abundance and low price of renewable electricity from wind power.

Latvia is one of the most competitive countries in the European Union, as it can produce clean methanol at a competitive price by using abundant wood waste as a raw material and renewable electricity from cheap wind power.

The use of abundant forest residues and wood wastes as a feedstock and cheap renewable electricity from wind power makes it possible to produce green methanol with a competitive price, making Latvia is one of the most competitive countries in the EU.

In the European Union, the European Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) will come into effect in 2025, requiring shipping companies to purchase carbon credits for their greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, the EU is implementing FuelEU Maritime, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2% below the 2020 average by 2025 and 80% by 2050. This is expected to result in an energy transition to green methanol.

In July 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) adopted a revised strategy that calls for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships to net-zero by or around 2050, and plans to introduce full-scale regulations from 2027, and shipping companies have begun ordering methanol-powered ships fueled by green methanol, a carbon-neutral fuel.

“We expect to start producing green methanol in Latvia in 2028, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from EU maritime transport vessels and contribute significantly to the revitalization of the Latvian economy and national energy security,” said John Kyung, CEO of PLAGEN.

In November 2024, PLAGEN completed the purchase of an industrial complex and received a government permit for the construction of the country's first green methanol plant in Dongjeom Industrial Complex in Taebaek City, Gangwon-do.

The project, which will produce 10,000 mt per year, is scheduled to begin construction in the first half of 2025 and begin production in the second half of 2027.

Photo credit: PLAGEN
Published: 2 December, 2024

LNG Bunkering

Molgas commences LNG bunkering operations in United Kingdom

Firm successfully completed the first LNG bunkering of “MV Glen Sannox” since the ship was handed over to CalMac Ferries Limited last week.

Published

9 hours ago

December 2, 2024

Admin

Molgas commences LNG bunkering operations in United Kingdom

Molgas Group on Friday (29 November) said it successfully completed the first LNG bunkering of the MV Glen Sannox since the ship was handed over to CalMac Ferries Limited last week, marking its entry into the United Kingdom.

“We would like to thank CalMac Ferries Limited and Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Limited for their trust and long-term collaboration,” the firm said in a social media post.

“This project not only represents a significant step forward in the adoption of cleaner fuels in the maritime industry of the United Kingdom but also for the expansion of our Pan-European Supply Network for the Marine Segment to receive (bio)LNG via various supply assets across multiple countries and ports.”

Photo credit: Molgas Group
Published: 2 December, 2024