- A bulk carrier has successfully sailed from Singapore to South Africa while using biodiesel converted from used cooking oil.
- This reduced the vessel’s carbon dioxide emissions by 5 per cent, raising the prospect of such alternative fuels powering large ships.
A news source published in Straits Times by Clement Yong says that big bulk carrier sails from Singapore to South Africa on fuel partly converted from used cooking oil.
The Frontier Jacaranda
The Frontier Jacaranda – a vessel that is too large to transit through the Suez or Panama canals – made the journey with a mix of 7 per cent biofuel and 93 per cent regular fuel.
Alpha Biofuels, a Singapore company, blended the biofuel at their plant in Tuas, converting it from cooking oil collected from food manufacturers, food and beverage businesses and households around the island.
A first-of-its-kind trial
The successful first-of-its-kind trial paves the way for the use of higher percentage blends in future trials, which could further reduce the carbon output of a voyage.
Alpha Biofuels on Friday (July 9) noted the significance of the maiden trial carried out in Singapore, the world’s largest maritime fuel market.
The operation was instrumental in verifying the stability of the biofuel in storage and its performance as a fuel.
What does the company statement says?
(It is important) that the vegetable oils Singapore cooks with at its Unesco World Heritage-listed hawker centre stalls, along with its highly regarded restaurants, doesn’t go down the drain into grease traps. It is in demand locally and globally as a clean transport fuel.
Frontier Jacaranda is owned by Japanese shipping company NYK Line. Alpha Biofuels supplied the fuel to Toyota Tsusho Petroleum, which used the Singapore-registered bunkering ship Marlin Tiga to feed the bigger carrier with the biofuel on June 11.
The trial comes amid continued efforts by local and international maritime stakeholders to find lower-carbon or zero-carbon alternatives to conventional maritime fuels that currently contribute about 2 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Biofuels offer hope for faster application
Unlike fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia, biofuels offer hope for faster application, given that it requires little to no engine modifications.
But its viability as a long-term option remains in doubt, with a 2019 report commissioned by the Sustainable Shipping Initiative noting that it is not clear that the supply of biofuels will be stable, possibly leading to fluctuating prices.
The report also cited industry stakeholders who said that biofuels’ role could be more as a short-term alternative, meeting 10 per cent to 30 per cent of shipping’s energy needs from 2030 to 2050 while awaiting more sustainable options to come on stream.
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Source: Straits Times
