Maersk to use biomethanol on 21,500 km shipping trip.

Shipping giant Maersk will fuel one of its container vessels travelling from Ulsan to Copenhagen – a journey of 21,500 km – with bio-methanol made from biogas recovered from decomposed organic landfills. The biomethanol is produced by US plant OCI Global and will be the first such voyage. The company has ordered 19 methanol-ready vessels to reach its green fuel target of transporting 25% of its ocean freight using sustainable energy by 2030. Maersk aims to establish net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

Morten Bo Christiansen, the head of energy transition at Maersk, said the company anticipated using a range of green fuels in the future, sourced from a diverse range of suppliers. One of the biggest challenges in reaching its targets was securing reliable supply of these green fuels. Maersk has developed numerous partnerships with ports and suppliers to mitigate this problem, including buying half of an e-methanol plant in Denmark and sourcing green methanol from a Chinese port.

The market for a greener methanol is still in its early stages and while surprising to have the maiden voyage with green methanol, Christiansen believes that a diverse mix of green fuels obtained from biomass waste will be widely available in the future. Maersk is leading the way, using biofuel to reduce its carbon footprint while maintaining its cargo levels and keeping the cost of its transportation competitive. Such advances demonstrate the company’s commitment to lowering greenhouse gas emissions and should encourage other shipping firms to follow suit on the journey towards a more sustainable economy.

Source .