Biofuels: tangible commercial solutions to immediately reduce GHG in shipping

Mr Jain expects biofuels as drop in fuels to be used for sustainable shipping and to comply with environmental regulations for the long term, despite the operational issues, such as fuel viscosity and flashpoint.

“We can deal with these as we learn more about biofuels,” he said. “There are many solutions around selling different fuels and pools, it is an unregulated market.”

Shipowners, operators and managers have been working with biofuels and blends involving them for 10 years, and engine manufacturers have been testing them for longer.

“There are no problems with blended fuels,” said Mr Jain. “They are approved, so there are no issues there. They are ready to use as drop-in fuels and FuelEU provides incentives, so it is time everyone gets on with this and moves to biofuels.”

Fuel supplier viewpoint

Chevron’s Mr Scharingson said biofuel bunkering facilities are opening in major global ports as demand rises and greater incentives are offered from IMO’s GHG reduction strategy, publicly trading companies and consumers to lower the use of carbon-based fuels.

“Biodiesel and renewable diesel are immediate viable options, with demand in the Americas, Europe and Singapore for B24 and B30 blends. B100 is also being used,” said Mr Scharingson.

On a commercial basis, biofuels and renewable diesel are trading at large premiums to fossil fuels, leaving companies searching for other technical options, such as dual-fuel ships, which could still be operating in 25 years time.

“Regional incentives are driving demand and a voluntary carbon market is evolving,” said Mr Scharingson. “But we need standardisation for implementing these low-carbon fuels. We need a full lifecycle approach.”

Available biofuels are in high demand across industries, with shipping competing with aviation and land-based sectors. “Maritime needs to get act together to secure these fuels,” said Mr Scharingson.

HutanBio’s Mr Archer agrees. “There is danger. The aviation industry has an organised system for new fuels, whereas the marine industry does not. There is no one point of contact.”

He highlighted how several manufacturers of engines want to carry out their own trials with new fuels, which is costly and a barrier to fuel developers.

“We cannot pay million of dollars for testing in various engines with multiple OEMs over multiple stages of testing. Biofuels will go to aviation instead.”

Mr Archer wants one system for testing new fuels for approval across the maritime sector.

“Let’s think about homogenising protocols of how biofuels are approved,” he said. “We need to secure investments and do not need multiple tests.”

HutanBio is developing biofuels from algae grown in deserts where the land is not good enough to grow crops, as is the case for most biofuels used currently.

“Our pilot project shows we can produce 24 tonnes per hectare of fuel from algae, addressing the scale, and we do it in the desert so there is not impact on food,” said Mr Archer.

For comparison, the most efficient oil crop to date generates 3.2 tonnes per hectare from palm oil from tropical zones.

“Biofuels from algae burn cleanly,” said Mr Archer. “Our high-grade single molecule can match to ISO 8217: 2024 standard and we can produce fuel blends up to 24% or 30% with no difficulties.”

 

Webinar poll results

Attendees were asked to vote on a series of poll questions during the webinar. Here is a summary of the results.

What is the most operationally important criteria when selecting alternative marine fuels for your fleet or customers?

Compatibility with vessels and operational standard practices: 53%

Energy density: 8%

Supply chain verification: 21%

Consistent fuel specification: 18%

What is your top concern when considering biofuels?

Certification/credentials: 10%

Price: 22%

Supply/availability: 32%

Reliability or compatibility with engines: 36%

Would you support a common testing and engine certification pipelines for alternative marine fuels?

Yes: 76%

Maybe: 16%

No: 8%

Are you planning to use biofuel for vessels this year?

Yes: 44%

Maybe: 27%

No: 29%

(source: Riviera Maritime Media)

 

On the panel of Riviera’s Biofuel’s balancing act: compliance, competitiveness, and carbon reduction under FuelEU Maritime webinar were (left to right): Chevron Renewable Energy Group executive director for strategic initiatives Jon Scharingson, HutanBio founder and director John Archer, Womar Logistics chief operating officer Manish Jain and V Group commercial director for decarbonisation James Helliwell.

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Riviera’s CO2 Shipping & Terminals Conference 2025 will be held in London on 17 June 2025. Use this ling to register your interest and attend the event.