The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) will test biofuel as a bunkering fuel for ships, in an effort to comply with the 2020 sulphur cap, the chief executive of the company’s logistics and services subsidiary said.
In an interview at local media, Captain Abdulkareem Al Masabi, chief executive of Adnoc Logistics and Services, stated that the company is studying the usage of biofuel, as well as ways to reduce fuel consumption.
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Biofuel will be used to ferry offshore support vessels in Abu Dhabi on a trial basis. The results of the trial will be known within a year, as currently the company examines how much biofuel could be blended.
ADNOC has applied the regulations across its entire fleet by November 2019, and it now explores other alternatives such as LNG, LPG and blended biofuel to carry its vessels.
Adnoc’s Logistics and Services subsidiary is also looking at the feasibility of using LNG as a bunkering fuel.
What is more, the company signed an agreement with Japan’s Inpex during 2019, to search for opportunities for LNG bunkering in the UAE, as well as in Southeast Asia.
In addition, the German container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd announced that one of its ships recently refueled in Rotterdam with a new, eco-friendly biofuel, as part of the company’s plan to reduce CO2 emissions generated by its operating ships.
For the first time, Hapag-Lloyd is using the so-called “B20” fuel for its container ship ‘Montreal Express’.
The B20 consists of 80% low-sulphur fuel oil and 20% biodiesel based on cooking oils and fats that had previously been used in the food service/catering industry.
As such, the biodiesel generates up to 90% less CO2 emissions than conventional fuels.
The move forms part of the company’s ambitious climate-protection goals.
