Rotterdam, 7 October 2015: Boskalis, the leading dredging and marine expert, and Wärtsilä, the global leader in complete lifecycle power solutions for the marine and oil & gas markets, today announced their collaboration with GoodFuels Marine, the first marine biofuel company focused on the global commercial fleet. The consortium will pioneer the development of sustainable “drop in” marine biofuels for the shipping industry.
Netherlands-based GoodFuels Marine and its partners will spearhead a two-year pilot programme to accelerate the development of truly sustainable, scalable and affordable marine biofuels. Biofuels are today not part of the marine fuel mix that operators and owners can choose from. This means that shipping is missing an opportunity to utilise what should be a price competitive, environmentally friendly fuel option.
The programme’s focus will be on delivering and analysing a sustainable feedstock, securing industry certification, and preparing the building blocks for large-scale production. Additionally, the consortium will initiate a global scalability study involving leading shipowners, universities, NGOs, ports, biofuel companies and other industry stakeholders. The aim will be to identify tangible opportunities for scaling supply to the world’s commercial shipping fleet.
During the launch, Luuk van der Wielen (Chairman of BE-Basic Foundation and BioPort Holland, the Dutch sustainable aviation biofuels platform) chaired the third panel discussion on upscaling of marine biofuels development from the perspective of large scale facilities, investability and market development, and the available and planned infrastructure in the port-industry complexes of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. He underlines the importance of the launch of the Sustainable Marine Fuel Program: “Biobased economy provides a tremendous opportunity for the Netherlands in terms of greenification of our mostly fossil based economy. Aviation as well as marine are sectors that cannot do without liquid biofuels. Therefore, the initiative by this strong consortium to accelerate the development of sustainable marine fuel is tremendously important.”
Theo Baartmans, COO, Boskalis commented: “We strongly believe in the need for sustainable “drop in” marine biofuels and their potential as part of the long term fuel mix, as we see them as an important means of improving the sustainability of the industry. Participating in this pilot and making our vessels available is in line with Boskalis’ approach to seeking innovations that work hand in hand with sustainability.”
Roger Holm, Senior Vice President, Engines, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions stated: “Wärtsilä, together with its customers, is highly committed to continuously finding better, more sustainable marine engine solutions. This is another great example of that commitment, whereby we support pioneering innovations that provide ship operators with greater flexibility and choice about how they can reduce emissions.”
Dirk Kronemeijer, CEO, GoodFuels Marine, added: “We believe that the international shipping market is now ready and well-placed to embrace truly sustainable, long term alternative fuels that can meet all stringent technical, economical and sustainability standards, similar to the sustainable jet fuel market five years ago. As the shipping industry seeks means of contributing towards carbon and wider emissions reduction, we are excited to be part of such a strong consortium with the expertise and motivation needed to establish this new market.”
Click here for the full article on the website of GoodFuels
