Car and truck carrier UECC is running the PCTC Auto Sky on
CO2-free, sustainable biofuel made from spent fast-food cooking oil. By giving
this otherwise unusable waste a place in the value chain, UECC is contributing
to the creation of a circular economy, with carbon-neutral transport as the
result.
The carbon reduction resulting from the 6,200 tons of
biofuel consumed by Auto Sky is around 20,600 tons of CO2, or a 60 percent
reduction in carbon intensity compared to conventional heavy fuel oil - far
ahead of the IMO target of 40 percent by 2030.
The biofuel feedstock, provided by Dutch supplier GoodFuels,
is certified sustainable by the International Standard on Carbon Certification
(ISCC) and has full accreditation from the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials
(RSB). These certifications guarantee that it does not come from an
environmentally disruptive source and cannot be used for food or any other
higher quality purpose. The fuel is the lowest commercial grade, combustible
only in giant ships’ engines.
Auto Sky is 20 years old, but she has a good ten years of
life ahead of her, proving that legacy tonnage can be made carbon-neutral. For
UECC to make the switch to biofuel on this particular vessel, all that was
required was to clean out the tanks.
“The point is to do what you can now with what you have,”
says Daniel Gent, Energy & Sustainability Manager at UECC. “We want to
prove that the marine community can begin to decarbonize right now. Practically
any vessel that runs on marine fuels can run on biofuel, allowing the ship to
run clean for the rest of its life.”
Now governments need to pick up their end, Gent says. “Right
now this green fuel is made more affordable through public support schemes,
which need to be expanded until the market reaches critical mass. We would run
the entire fleet on biofuel if we could, and cargo owners are eager to
transport their products on low-carbon ships in order to meet their own goals
of a reduced environmental footprint. If all stakeholders work together, we can
decarbonize much of the existing fleet,” he says.
UECC has also started sourcing bio-methane from urban waste
streams in order to fuel their newer, gas-fueled vessels. “We want to prove
that marine transport can be decarbonized, and we invite all stakeholders to
join us on this journey,” says UECC CEO Glenn Edvardsen.