The oil, developed by GoodFuels and derived from used cooking oil and forest residues, does not contain sulfur oxide or require engine modifications.
IKEA Transport and Logistics Services, CMA CGM, the GoodShipping Program and the Port of Rotterdam announced Tuesday they will collaborate to test and scale the use of sustainable marine biofuel oil.
The bunkering of the biofuel oil, developed by GoodFuels and entirely derived from used cooking oil and forest residues, is scheduled for Tuesday on a CMA CGM containership. The “drop-in” heavy fuel oil-equivalent biofuel oil does not contain sulfur oxide and is expected to deliver 80 percent to 90 percent well-to-propeller CO2 reduction versus fossil equivalents. The biofuel oil also can be used without engine modifications.
“Through our pilot we want to show that the means for decarbonization in terms of alternative fuels are available,” said Elisabeth Munck af Rosenschöld, head of sustainability for IKEA Global Transport and Logistics, in a press release. “We have a responsibility to do our part to reduce the impact of our ocean freight. Through our participation we send a signal to our customers and the ocean industry to our commitment to decarbonize. Only through collaboration can we achieve rapid, necessary change.”
The test is scheduled less than nine months before the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) regulations take effect on Jan. 1, 2020, that reduce the allowable sulfur content in marine fuel from 3.5 percent to .5 percent globally, unless a ship has a scrubber to clean exhaust.
BP also announced this week it will begin to sell low-sulfur fuel, which will be manufactured and supplied in BP’s Amsterdam/Rotterdam/Antwerp and Singapore hubs and retailed globally. In February, AlixPartners, a consulting firm, said the requirement to use low-sulfur fuel could raise costs by $10 billion for the industry.
“We cannot say anything definitive about price as it fluctuates day to day,” said GoodFuels founder and CEO Dirk Kronemeijer Tuesday in an email. “Currently there is a premium against [heavy fuel oil], but this differential will fall in the approach to 2020 and the sulfur cap, as well as with a wider decarbonization push. The advantage of this drop-in biofuel oil is that it can be used directly without any modifications of the engine or infrastructure, so there is no extra investment needed to use the sustainable biofuel oil.”
The shipping industry also faces the IMO Green Gas reduction requirements, including an objective to reduce average carbon intensity from shipping by at least 40 percent by 2030 and 70 percent by 2050.
If the tests go well, GoodFuels is expected to expand its scope with IKEA and CMA CGM, Kronemeijer said. The company also is expanding its fuel testing in the bulk segment with Norden A/S and is expanding its scope to other segments, he said.
The Port of Rotterdam “aims to be the front-runner, field lab and flagship of the energy transition,” Kronemeijer said.
“It’s clear that shippers play an important role in decarbonizing the industry. In Rotterdam the necessary infrastructure is available,” said Port of Rotterdam CEO Allard Castelein in a press release. “Besides that, to support these kind of initiatives, we have just started a four-year period during which we have 5 million euros to spend on stimulating specific projects to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the global shipping industry.”