FuelEU Pooling Could Help Accelerate Adoption of Biofuels

The FuelEU pooling mechanism, as highlighted by OceanScore, offers a new economic incentive to speed up the adoption of biofuels in the maritime industry. By burning biofuels, companies can generate surpluses for vessel pooling and achieve tangible savings on compliance costs with FuelEU Maritime regulations. This allows companies to benefit financially from exceeding carbon intensity reduction targets and avoid hefty penalties for non-compliance.

Albrecht Grell, the Managing Director of OceanScore, acknowledges the complexity and cost burden that FuelEU may pose for the shipping industry. However, he also points out the business opportunities that arise from the concept of surpluses and deficits under the FuelEU pooling mechanism. By generating compliance surpluses through burning the right biofuels, companies can offset compliance deficits of vessels using conventional fuels and create a neutral compliance balance.

OceanScore has calculated the financial benefits of using biofuels to replace traditional fuels like HFO. For example, replacing HFO with rapeseed-based biofuel can result in savings of around €440 per tonne of HFO replaced. This benefit can increase to up to €1,250 per tonne of HFO replaced when using bunkers based on waste cooking oil, which have a lower carbon intensity. The availability of biofuels should not be a concern, as shipping demand is only a small fraction of Europe’s total biofuel production.

In conclusion, the opportunities presented by the FuelEU pooling mechanism provide a strong economic incentive for the maritime industry to adopt biofuels. By carefully selecting the right biofuels and leveraging compliance surpluses, companies can not only meet regulatory requirements but also benefit financially from their sustainability efforts. This new approach not only helps companies comply with regulations but also contributes to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly maritime industry.

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