GCMD-led consortium successfully completes trialling two supply chains of sustainable biofuels
The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) has successfully completed trialling two supply chains of biofuel blends sourced from different origins, according to GCMD's release. The supply chain trials encompassed tracing biofuels from their production sites outside Singapore, to Singapore where the fuels were blended and bunkered. Lab testing of the fuels continued until they were consumed onboard. These trials took place from 31 October 2022–15 February 2023 and involved five vessels; approximately 4,700 MT of sustainable biofuel blends were bunkered, the last batch of which will be consumed by end of February.
Two sustainable biofuel blends were used in the trials. One is Used Cooking Oil Methyl Ester (UCOME), a type of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME), blended with Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO); the other is UCOME blended with High Sulphur Fuel Oil (HSFO). The UCOME used in both biofuel blends is produced from residue or feedstocks labelled 100% waste and is ISCC certified.
In the first supply chain, Chevron provided B24 VLSFO (24% biofuel blend) to CMA CGM Maupassant and MOL Endowment, the latter a vessel operated by ONE. Additionally, Chevron bunkered B20 HSFO (20% biofuel blend) in its own Singapore Voyager and in Elizabeth I.A. that is owned by Angelicoussis Group and managed by its oil tanker shipping unit, Maran Tankers Shipmanagement. In a separate supply chain, TotalEnergies Marine Fuels provided B24 VLSFO to Lycaste Peace that is owned by NYK and chartered to Astomos Energy Corporation.
A sampling procedure carried out by the surveyor at the ship bunkering manifold during bunkering.
The supply chain trials were undertaken under business-as-usual conditions in which individual fuel purchasers nominated their fuel suppliers of choice, and bunkering took place with vessels on commercial routes. GCMD brought together marine fuel purchasers and suppliers, and balanced the dynamic needs of the many diverse stakeholders, vessel schedules, equipment and asset availabilities, spanning geographies and factoring in contingencies to complete the two supply chain trials. Alongside, GCMD coordinated with the surveyors, tracer technology and laboratory test providers to enable end-to-end tracing of biofuels during these trials. Collaborating and sharing transparently with willing project partners enabled these trials to take place successfully despite the complexities of the marine fuel supply chain and uncertainties in bunkering operations.
First announced at the end of July 2022, the full pilot involves 19 industry partners, with 13 vessels spanning the container, tanker, and bulker segments bunkering in Singapore and Rotterdam. The completed trials represent two of the five supply chains in the full pilot, which aims to establish an assurance framework for the supply chain of sustainable biofuels. This framework, to be further developed by GCMD and its partners, will also provide emissions abatement assurance for future synthetic and bio-derived drop-in fuels.
To ensure transparency and integrity of the supply chains for biofuels and biofuel blends from end-to-end, GCMD deployed a range of tracing techniques, including dosing with physical tracers, fingerprinting, and deploying a lock-and-seal methodology, all of which were complemented with laboratory testing and analyses at numerous pre-determined points from fuel production to consumption. The strong collaboration GCMD fostered with the marine fuel suppliers and purchasers ensured that the physical tracers were added, and biofuels and their blends were sampled as planned. This important partnership also allowed collection of shipboard samples and data along voyages so GHG emissions can be appropriately quantified. In addition, VPS witnessed the biofuel bunkering operations at all stages from source to supply, and conducted extensive laboratory tests to assess the quality of the biofuel and their blends.
Over the three months during which the trials took place, the quality of the biofuel blends remained stable. With the data collected from the completed trials and additional data to be collected from the three other supply chains, GCMD is working with Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of its Impact Partners, to develop a robust framework for GHG accounting and conduct cost-benefit analysis of deploying biofuels.
