Container Line and US Navy Cooperate on Biofuel from Algae Tests
Maersk Searches for Cleaner Options Never the one to do things by halvesMaersk Line, as the largest shipping company in the world, is leading the fight for shipping to clean up its act. This week the company posed the question 'Can a ship sail on algae power' and gave the current details for the experiment it is currently undertaking together with theUS Navy to establish if bio fuels are a credible source of power for large marine diesel engines using one of the company's 6,700 TEU container ships, the 89,000 tonneMaersk Kalmar, as a test bed.As we illustratedlast month algae based fuel is already being used to power commercial aircraft but for anyone who thinks these trials to be a gimmick Maersk say that for their fleet of more than 1,300 vessels, biofuels pose a host of potential advantages. The U.S. Navy, which is the main sponsor of the test and also supplying the 30 tonnes of algae fuel, intends to source 50 percent of its energy from alternative fuel types by 2020 as a part of its 'Great Green Fleet' initiative. For Maersk Line, testing of biofuels is part of a wider strategy for reducing it's the CO2 emissions. ...
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