Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) successfully operated its first coastal vessel using a marine biofuel made from mixing used cooking oil directly with heavy fuel oil, the company said Nov. 1.
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Cadastre-se agoraThe biofuel used was made by mixing waste cooking oil derived from vegetable oils and fats in Japan without chemical treatment with heavy fuel oil. The fuel was supplied by Hanwa Co. in collaboration with Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co., as part of a research program overseen by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the company said.
Conventionally, the primary raw material for biofuels has been Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME), produced through the chemical processing of waste cooking oil and methanol. However, this initiative used cooking oil mixed with heavy oil at a ratio of 24% in almost its original form as straight vegetable oil (SVO).
The latter mix is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions more effectively than other biofuels and can be supplied at a lower cost as it does not undergo methyl esterification or hydrogenation process.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights. assessed Bio-Bunkers B24 Singapore at $812.2/mt Nov.1, up 2.85% on the day.
S&P Global, in its latest Freight Markets Bunker Forecast Oct. 5, said that while momentum for alternative fuels was advancing, a lack of fuel availability as well as main engines for ammonia and hydrogen-fueled ships being built at shipyards remained a challenge.
LNG and biofuels, along with a handful of methanol, are the main candidates to fill the slots until the new fuels are tested and become more prevalent, analysts at S&P Global said as part of the forecast.
In S&P Global's reference case, overall bunker fuel demand for 2050 is around 300 million mt. Of the total bunker fuel consumption, alternative fuels excluding LNG and LPG are expected to have a 14% share in the reference case. In S&P Global's higher alternative fuels uptake case for 2050, this share, excluding LPG and LNG, is expected to be 39%. Of this, biofuels as a marine fuel will likely have a 9% consumption split.
Other MOL initiatives
In another statement on Nov. 1, MOL said it had partnered on joint development and marketing of the electric vessels business in the Singapore region, as well as marketing for the expansion of electric vessels in Japan to advance sustainable shipping.
"MOL and Pyxis will harness MOL's maritime expertise, market networks and industry knowledge as a shipping company, with Pyxis's agility and fast execution as a start-up company to drive the mass adoption and commercialization of electric vessels," it said in the statement.
The MOL Group has positioned its environmental strategy as key in its "Blue Action 2035" management plan and is among the first few companies in Japan's maritime industry to set the target of achieving net zero GHG emissions by 2050. The company is also targeting to have 90 LNG/methanol fueled ships by 2030.