PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining major BHP on Thursday announced that along with German shipping company Oldendorff Carriers, and advanced biofuels pioneer GoodFuels, the company had successfully completed the first trial of sustainable biofuel on an ocean-going vessel bunkered in Singapore.
As part of the trial, a 2020-built 81 290 t dry bulk carrier was refuelled with “drop-in” advanced biofuel blended with conventional fossil fuels.
The key objectives of the biofuel bunkering trial included understanding the behaviour of the fuel, assessing engine and vessel operational performance during the trial as well as exploring the technical and commercial merits and challenges of biofuels as a marine fuel.
The miner said on Thursday that the trial would enable the company to develop an informed strategy on the structural supply and use of biofuels to support BHP’s key shipping routes.
These objectives are in line with BHP’s strategy to assess biofuels as a potential low-carbon fuel of the future, which is an important step in enabling BHP to establish pathways for meeting one of its Scope 3 greenhouse gas emission goals for 2030, to support 40% emissions intensity reduction of BHP-chartered shipping of its products.
“We are delighted to be working with Oldendorff Carriers and GoodFuels, with the support of Maratime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), to carry out the first biofuel trial involving an ocean-going vessel bunkered here in Singapore,” said BHP VP of Maritime Rashpal Bhatti.
“We strive hard to work with our customers, suppliers and other stakeholders along the value chain to influence emissions reductions across the full life cycle of our products and we fully support moves to decarbonise the maritime industry.”
The advanced biofuel, supplied by GoodFuels, reduces carbon emissions by 80% to 90% well-to-exhaust compared with heavy fuel oil or very low sulphur fuel oil, and uses sustainable waste and residue streams as feedstock.
Oldendorff Carriers chose one of their modern Kamsarmaxes for the trial as appropriate modifications to the vessel were easily carried out to burn the biofuel blend efficiently, and monitoring instruments were installed to capture the trial data as accurately as possible.