- Drop-in replacements for fossil fuels may be a cost-effective way of meeting environmental regulations and could extend the life of older vessels, says LR report.
- The report points to biofuels as a path to compliance with environmental regulations for ships for which retrofits to adopt other future fuels are not economically feasible.
Biofuels may have an important role to play in shipping’s decarbonisation as a drop-in replacement for fossil fuels, but feedstock availability and demand competition from other transport sectors – particularly aviation – pose challenges for their wider adoption, according to a new report from Lloyd’s Register (LR).
Feedstock availability and aviation demand
As ‘drop-in’ replacements, biofuels require minimal changes to machinery and operations and offer GHG emissions savings of up to 84% compared to traditional fuels. Furthermore, LR added, they are generally compatible with existing onboard machinery and fuel tanks, use the same bunkering infrastructure as fossil equivalents, and their similarity to traditional bunkers means training requirements for crew are minimal compared to other future fuels.
However, LR also pointed that there will need to be significant investment in biofuel production capacity to meet the growing demand from across the transport sector and ‘the price of biodiesel blends is expected to rise alongside blending levels as feedstock prices are driven higher by demand’.
LR noted that the most established products suitable for shipping are Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) and Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), but it also pointed out that ‘novel fuels continue to be developed’ and ship operators will need to be ‘alert to the individual characteristics of any given biofuel’.
Tim Wilson, Principal Specialist Fuels Lubes and Emissions, Lloyd’s Register, commented: ‘Biofuels are unique among the future fuels for shipping as the vast majority of the world fleet is equipped with engines that can use them. As a drop-in replacement for fossil fuels, biofuels are an available and affordable method of reducing carbon emissions in the short term without large capital investment. The range of biofuel trials across ship segments and biofuel types reflect a strong level of interest from shipowners in their use onboard.’
Click here to download LR’s Fuel for Thought: Biofuel.
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Source: Lloyd’s Register
