Successful trial of two biofuel supply chains in Singapore

Biofuels bunker sampling
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Drop-in biofuels can be used to reduce emissions from ships today but assurance as to their sourcing and blending remains an issue.

To fill this gap, the Global Center for Maritime Decarbonization (GCMD) has led a consortium testing two supply chains of biofuel blends.

The Singapore trials took place from October 31, 2022 to February 15, 2023 and involved five vessels; about 4,700 tons (mt) of sustainable biofuel blends have been bunkered, of which the last batch will be consumed by the end of February.

dr Sanjay Kuttan, CTO of the GCMD, said: “The lack of certainty about the quality, quantity and emission reduction of biofuels is a pain point that we identified in interviewing more than 100 industry stakeholders. These studies were curated to fill this gap. By developing a framework to ensure transparency and strengthen the integrity of the biofuel supply chain, we hope to increase user trust and lower the barrier to wider adoption.”

In the first supply chain, Chevron delivered B24 VLSFO (a 24 percent biofuel blend) to vessels CMA CGM Maupassant and the Ocean Network Express (ONE) operated MOL Endowment. Chevron also bunkered B20 HSFO on its own Singapore Voyager and on the Elizabeth IA, owned by the Angelicoussis Group.

In a second supply chain, TotalEnergies provided marine fuel B24 VLSFO to Lycaste Peace, owned by NYK and chartered to Astomos Energy Corporation.

dr Prapisala Thepsithar, Director of Projects at GCMD and project leader on this fuel assurance drop-in pilot, said: “Through these trials, we have gained a better understanding of the complexities of real-world operations. We have learned the hard lesson that not all traceability techniques are directly applicable to tracing sustainable biofuels as they are, and we are making efforts to refine their use.

The two supply chains tested are part of five that will complete the pilot project, which involves 19 industry partners, with 13 vessels across container, tanker and bulker segments bunkering in Singapore and Rotterdam.

In the MOL Endowment ONE involved in the process, he noted that this also represents a step forward in digitization as the biofuel transaction was processed digitally via the Singapore Trade Data Exchange (SGTraDex). The digitally exchanged documents include the quality certificate, bunker sales confirmation, bunker delivery note and bunker sales invoice (delivery).

Source: News Network

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