France-headed global shipping and logistics major CMA CGM Group, with the support of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), has announced that it has started biofuel bunkering in Singapore as part of its global trial to scale up the wider adoption of clean energy. With this new global trial, the CMA CGM Group keeps moving forward to make shipping and logistics a more sustainable industry and reach its goal to go beyond carbon neutrality and become a Net Zero Carbon company by 2050.
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The 6-month global trial will involve up to 32 containerships running on different blends of biofuel to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in order to obtain a trend analysis, which will be shared with the respective flag administration including MPA.
Some of these vessels will be fuelled in Singapore with B24 biofuel, which comprises 24 percent used cooking oil methyl ester (UCOME) in the advanced biofuel blended with conventional fuels.
Ranging from ship sizes between 2 200 and 10 640 TEUs, these vessels on trial will serve several trade lanes including Asia-South America, Asia-Africa, Asia-Oceania, Asia-Mediterranean, North Europe–Oceania, and North Europe-North America.
B24 can reduce carbon emissions by 21 percent. Completely compatible with modern ship engines, this “drop-in” fuel option can be run on all vessel types without requiring technical, safety, or design adjustments, enabling ships to quickly start limiting their emissions.
Made from used cooking oil (UCO) collected from food manufacturers, F&B businesses and households, the conversion of waste cooking oil into biofuel for transportation promotes a circular economy, providing a new and environmentally beneficial use for consumed oil.
A fleet of 44 e-methane ready vessels by the end of 2024
The CMA CGM Group says that it is committed to making “shipping and logistics a more sustainable industry” and is taking concrete actions by adopting the best available solutions.
The Group has chosen to invest in dual-fuel vessels that run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), avoiding up to 99 percent of atmospheric pollutant emissions compared to conventional fossil marine fuels.
LNG is seen as “an important first step” in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the engine installed on these vessels is capable of using bioLNG reducing fossil CO2 emissions by up to a further 67 percent.
In the coming years, those engines will use synthetic methane (including e-methane). The CMA CGM Group already has a fleet of 25 “e-methane ready” vessels in service and will have a total of 44 such vessels by the end of 2024.
This global biofuel trial and bunkering in Singapore advances CMA CGM’s energy transition, paving the way for biofuel to scale up as one of the solutions to decarbonize shipping. With the use of biofuels being assessed over multiple key trade lanes and onboard ships of various sizes, we shall gather a comprehensive data set to verify the biofuel’s performance as a marine fuel and gain insights into facilitating wider adoption of biofuel as a clean fuel, commented Stéphane Courquin, CEO of CMA CGM Asia Pacific.
