The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) is leading a consortium of 18 industry partners to launch a drop-in biofuels pilot project with a combined contribution of US$18 million in cash to establish a framework for ensuring the supply chain integrity of current and future green marine fuels.
The Singapore’s Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, an organization committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the maritime sector, is leading this pilot project to help align stakeholders in the supply chain for the adoption of biofuels.
As it is stated by the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, the pilot project which is described as “first-of-its-kind” in extent and complexity aims to optimise the entire supply chain of bunker fuels by building on the learnings of past shipboard trials involving biofuels.
The vessels in this pilot are all equipped with MAN ES’s two-stroke engines, the statement said. According to GCMD, the ship owners, charterers and operators participating in this pilot project represent approximately 2,300 vessels across the container, tanker and bulker segments, and are responsible for transporting 8.4 million TEUs or 80.6 million DWT globally. With 12 vessels bunkering at three ports across three continents, the learnings from these route-based pilots will support the green corridors framework that was put forth by the Clydebank Declaration at COP26 in October 2021, of which 24 states are signatories including Singapore, the Netherlands and the US where bunkering ports for this pilot project reside.
Piloting will start with fuel blends involving existing biofuels, such as hydrotreated vegetable oil and fatty acid methyl esters blended with either very low sulphur fuel oil, high-sulphur fuel oil or marine gas oil in blends up to 30% biofuels. The scheme could be extended to future drop-in fuels, such as bio-LNG, bio-methanol and green ammonia, when they become available in meaningful quantities.
The pilot will commence on August 1 2022, and is expected to take 12 to 18 months to complete, the release added.
Source: Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation
