Marine Fuels 360: Fingerprinting to play key role in proving biofuel feedstock authenticity and beyond, says VPS

The use of finger printing technology today will likely establish a blueprint of how future alternative bunker fuels’ feedstocks are authenticated, forecasts the President, Strategic Partnerships at marine fuels testing company VPS.

Captain Rahul Choudhuri was speaking amongst panellists in the Alternative Fuels Debate session at Marine Fuels 360 on Tuesday (28 November) when he gave an update of VPS’ biofuels finger printing trials with the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD).

“We are currently doing some really important and cutting-edge work together with GCMD in trying to fingerprint biofuels to enhance transparency and authenticity issues,” he stated.

“Biofuel feedstock comes from a variety of sources including edible vegetable oils, animal fat, waste, and components; but how do you figure out what the feedstock really was?”

According to Captain Choudhuri, the supply chain within the shipping and bunkering sector is “different” and prone to contamination or fraud.

Biofuel composition, supplied through several parties, could be inconsistent when delivered to the receiving vessel despite the product being subjected to the International Sustainability Carbon Certification (ISCC) programme.

“The proof of sustainability will become really tricky going ahead. However, [VPS/GCMD] trials have proven biofuels possess fatty acid chains that produce a unique profiling,” he noted.

“If you think your feedstock should be palm-based and the fingerprint shows clearly that it is not – then that’s it – because the fingerprint just doesn’t fail irrespective of which country the biofuel comes from.

Captain Choudhuri, meanwhile, believes the use of finger printing for determining feedstocks of future marine fuels could prove challenging.

“It seems we need to dig in a little bit more and honestly, it’s a little trickier. But I am sure our current fingerprinting trials will offer a blueprint of how traceability of future bunker fuels including bio-methanol needs to be.”

Moving forward, Captain Choudhuri highlighted VPS was “very bullish” on the consumption of biofuels as a marine fuel.

“There has been a lot of first movers using biofuels; we’ve tested more than 1,000 biofuels samples globally over the last year or two, compared to less than a handful pre-COVID. The uptake has been very dramatic in the last two years,” he said.

“Since the beginning of this year, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has recorded more than 400,000 mt of bio-VLSFO being delivered which was four times during the similar period in 2022.

“That’s a huge move and this is exactly what VPS expects it to be.”

Related: GCMD-led consortium completes trials of sustainable biofuel bunker supply chains
Related: Dr. Nicholas Clague shares VPS’ experience with alternative bunker fuels
Related: Dubai: Shipowners and peers discuss realities of biofuel adoption at VPS Biofuels Seminar
Related: Singapore: VPS panel discussion presents a masterclass in shipping’s biofuel bunker adoption issues to the deck

Photo credit: Informa
Published: 29 November 2023