Boskalis Tests Wood-Based Marine Fuel

Dredging company Boskalis as conducted successful tests on a sustainable wood-based drop-in biofuel, a world first for the maritime fleet.

Along with GoodFuels Marine, a provider of sustainable marine biofuels to the global commercial shipping fleet, Boskalis tested the fuel UPM BioVerno supplied by Finnish company UPM Biofuels. 
 
Boskalis vessel Edax, a 1,696 dwt cutter suction dredger, successfully used the fuel in bio/fossil blends going up to 50 percent as it worked on phase one of the Marker Wadden project in the first half of 2016. This resulted in a CO2 saving of 600 tons over the operating period.
 
The testing of the fuel marks another landmark development for the marine biofuels consortium that was announced in October last year by GoodFuels Marine, Boskalis and Wärtsilä. The consortium was launched with the mission to spearhead a two-year pilot program to accelerate the development of truly sustainable, scalable and affordable marine biofuels. 

All fuels being ‘live” tested on board of Boskalis vessels – including UPM BioVerno - were first extensively ground tested at the Wärtsilä lab in Vaasa, Finland.
 
Sustainable marine biofuels offer ship operators a way to reduce a vessel’s CO2 emissions by 80-90 percent, says Boskalis. They eliminate SOx emissions, cut NOx emissions by up to 10 percent and reduce particulate matter (PM) expelled in a ship’s exhaust plume by 50 percent.

Current forecasts predict that marine biofuels could make up five to 10 percent of the marine fuel mix by 2030, significantly contributing towards the reduction of the shipping industry’s carbon footprint.