Marine biofuels enter market with new biodiesel bunker tanker
A new biodiesel bunker tanker has joined the local bunker barges in Vancouver this year for the summer cruise season, Bunkerworld has learned. The Chemical Sprinter is being operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL) as part of the company's biodiesel programme for cruise ships operating out of Vancouver and Seattle.
The Malta-registered tanker required a special exemption, as a foreign-flagged vessel, to stem bunkers in the port and brings the biodiesel product up from Grays Harbor in Washington state. Royal Caribbean has been undertaking sea trials of a palm oil-based biodiesel since 2005 and has used it in vessels that typically run on marine gasoil (MGO) fuelled gas turbines.
The biodiesel fuel, which is apparently 95% pure, burns cleaner than regular MGO with reduced CO2, nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. Sources told Bunkerworld last year that Royal Caribbean had no trouble using the fuel as a ready substitute for the heavy marine fuel oil.
According to recent studies by Germany's Institut für Physik der Atmosphere (IPA) and by the College of Marine and Earth Studies of the University of Delaware, CO2 emissions from the shipping sector are on the same order as those of the aviation industry. They could double by 2050.
The studies reveal converging estimates of current ship emissions and suggest that shipping emitted around 800 Tg CO2 and contributed around 2.7% to all anthropogenic CO2 emissions in 2000 (1 Tg = 1012 g = 1 million metric tons = 1 Mt). The same studies put aviation emissions of CO2 at about 650 Tg (graph, click to enlarge).
For comparison, aviation and road transport contributed around 2.2% and 14%, respectively. Other comparisons suggest that shipping accounts for around 15% of all global anthropogenic NOx emissions and for around 8% of SO2 emissions. The relatively high contribution is a result of marine engines operating at high temperatures and pressures without effective NOx emission reduction technologies and because of the high average sulfur content (2.4%-2.7%) in marine fuels.
Marine biofuels reduce all major emissions substantially. Added advantages are that the green fuels are biodegradable, 10 times less toxic than table salt and are thus far less damaging to marine ecosystems than petroleum fuels. Moreover, handling marine biofuels in a bunker context is considerably safer than dealing with petro-fuels (earlier post).
This year Royal Caribbean has sourced its biodiesel from the plant in Grays Harbor operated by Imperium Renewables, which expanded this year from a 5 million gallon per annum capacity to around 100 million gallons. The cruise company has committed to nearly 50,000 metric tonnes of Imperium's biodiesel for this year, rising to close to 60,000 metric tonnes in 2008:
energy :: sustainability :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: marine :: shipping :: emissions ::
Feedstocks are reportedly tight at present in the biodiesel industry. Imperium will use Canadian canola oil for most of its feedstock over the next 18 months and will not use palm oil in the forseeable future, president John Plaza was reported saying this week.
According to Imperium's SEC filing, however, it has contracted with Singapore-based Cargill International Trading to supply palm oil from Southeast Asia from March this year through September 2009 as required.
The contract includes a minimum quantity over the three-year period, not specified in the SEC filing due to confidentiality reasons.
At least two Royal Caribbean cruise ships based in Vancouver this year are using the product, the Infinity and the Radiance of the Seas.
Celebrity Cruises, part of RCL, is also involved in the programme and the Chemical Sprinter was seen stemming the Summit today. Royal Caribbean was unable to provide further details about its biodiesel programme when contacted by Bunkerworld. It confirmed, however, that it did use biodiesel from time-to-time in its eight gas-turbine powered ships instead of MGO.
References:
Bunkerworld: Biodiesel bunker tanker welcomed - September 14, 2007.
Institut für Physic de Atmosphere: Comparing Fuel Consumption, CO2 and Other Emissions from International Shipping and Aircraft: A Summary of Recent Research Findings - March 8, 2007.
Biopact: EU plans unilateral shipping emissions cap - April 23, 2007
Biopact: Shipping industry waking up to the biofuels call - BioShip - October 13, 2006
The Malta-registered tanker required a special exemption, as a foreign-flagged vessel, to stem bunkers in the port and brings the biodiesel product up from Grays Harbor in Washington state. Royal Caribbean has been undertaking sea trials of a palm oil-based biodiesel since 2005 and has used it in vessels that typically run on marine gasoil (MGO) fuelled gas turbines.
The biodiesel fuel, which is apparently 95% pure, burns cleaner than regular MGO with reduced CO2, nitrogen oxide (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. Sources told Bunkerworld last year that Royal Caribbean had no trouble using the fuel as a ready substitute for the heavy marine fuel oil.
According to recent studies by Germany's Institut für Physik der Atmosphere (IPA) and by the College of Marine and Earth Studies of the University of Delaware, CO2 emissions from the shipping sector are on the same order as those of the aviation industry. They could double by 2050.
The studies reveal converging estimates of current ship emissions and suggest that shipping emitted around 800 Tg CO2 and contributed around 2.7% to all anthropogenic CO2 emissions in 2000 (1 Tg = 1012 g = 1 million metric tons = 1 Mt). The same studies put aviation emissions of CO2 at about 650 Tg (graph, click to enlarge).
For comparison, aviation and road transport contributed around 2.2% and 14%, respectively. Other comparisons suggest that shipping accounts for around 15% of all global anthropogenic NOx emissions and for around 8% of SO2 emissions. The relatively high contribution is a result of marine engines operating at high temperatures and pressures without effective NOx emission reduction technologies and because of the high average sulfur content (2.4%-2.7%) in marine fuels.
Marine biofuels reduce all major emissions substantially. Added advantages are that the green fuels are biodegradable, 10 times less toxic than table salt and are thus far less damaging to marine ecosystems than petroleum fuels. Moreover, handling marine biofuels in a bunker context is considerably safer than dealing with petro-fuels (earlier post).
This year Royal Caribbean has sourced its biodiesel from the plant in Grays Harbor operated by Imperium Renewables, which expanded this year from a 5 million gallon per annum capacity to around 100 million gallons. The cruise company has committed to nearly 50,000 metric tonnes of Imperium's biodiesel for this year, rising to close to 60,000 metric tonnes in 2008:
energy :: sustainability :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: marine :: shipping :: emissions ::
Feedstocks are reportedly tight at present in the biodiesel industry. Imperium will use Canadian canola oil for most of its feedstock over the next 18 months and will not use palm oil in the forseeable future, president John Plaza was reported saying this week.
According to Imperium's SEC filing, however, it has contracted with Singapore-based Cargill International Trading to supply palm oil from Southeast Asia from March this year through September 2009 as required.
The contract includes a minimum quantity over the three-year period, not specified in the SEC filing due to confidentiality reasons.
At least two Royal Caribbean cruise ships based in Vancouver this year are using the product, the Infinity and the Radiance of the Seas.
Celebrity Cruises, part of RCL, is also involved in the programme and the Chemical Sprinter was seen stemming the Summit today. Royal Caribbean was unable to provide further details about its biodiesel programme when contacted by Bunkerworld. It confirmed, however, that it did use biodiesel from time-to-time in its eight gas-turbine powered ships instead of MGO.
References:
Bunkerworld: Biodiesel bunker tanker welcomed - September 14, 2007.
Institut für Physic de Atmosphere: Comparing Fuel Consumption, CO2 and Other Emissions from International Shipping and Aircraft: A Summary of Recent Research Findings - March 8, 2007.
Biopact: EU plans unilateral shipping emissions cap - April 23, 2007
Biopact: Shipping industry waking up to the biofuels call - BioShip - October 13, 2006
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