Biofuels producer PRIO on Thursday (9 February) said it has launched its new ECO Bunkers B30 biofuel in partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and World Fuel Services.
PRIO previously launched ECO Bunkers B15, a green fuel for ships with 15% biodiesel and the company then launched a 20% biofuel blend, ECO Bunkers E20.
The new ECO Bunkers B30 is a 30% blend of advanced biofuel from waste feedstocks, produced at PRIO’s biodiesel plant and blended at PRIO’s tank terminal in Aveiro. The flexibility of this blending process makes it possible to scale production according to demand and adjust the percentage of Biodiesel mixtures (up to a 100% renewable product, which allows up to 86% GHG reduction), according to the needs of customers and objectives of sustainability.
With the support of World Fuel Services, on 27 November and 7 December 2022, two Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings cruises were supplied with a total of 400 tonnes of B30 (blend of 70% ultra-low sulphur diesel and 30% biofuel) supplied and produced by PRIO.
The first cruise, Norwegian Star, took advantage of a stopover in Lisbon, to supply 200 tonnes of ECO Bunkers B30. The following week, another ship in the fleet, Norwegian Epic, followed with another 200 tons of ECO Bunkers B30.
In total, the firm said ECO Bunkers B30 fuel enabled the Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings fleet to reduce CO2 emissions by around 30%, which is about 440 tonnes of CO2.
Luis Nunes, member of the Executive Committee of PRIO, said: “Advanced biofuels, produced from residual raw materials, that is, the result of the circular economy, are the solution of the present and that allow us to immediately face to the growing needs of our customers. They are “drop-in” solutions, that is, they did not require any modifications to the engine or tank of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ cruise ships and thus allowed an immediate impact without any need for additional investment in these ships”.
“We are going through a crucial moment in the world’s response to climate and biodiversity emergencies, so PRIO believes that we can already accelerate the energy transition if we increase the contribution of advanced biofuels in the maritime sector.”
Photo credit: PRIO
Published: 13 February, 2023
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