Hamburg, Germany | 25-11-2022

Getting hands-on experience with sustainable biofuels

6 minutes read

Following an invitation by DNV Maritime, GoodFuels recently contributed to a panel discussion on sustainable biofuels together with our long-time client UECC. As part of the Alternative Fuels Online Conference, we discussed sustainable biofuels as the preferred solution for the short to medium-term.

Decarbonising global shipping together

As the world’s leading classification society and a recognized advisor for the maritime industry, DNV Maritime has brought together industry experts to share up-to-date insights into alternative and emerging fuels. In addition to discussing availability, latest insights, regulatory and financial implications, a big highlight of this conference was the need for collaboration to enable the decarbonisation of global shipping.

“Biofuels are going to play a big role in the absence of mature technology”

Supply and demand

As an example of these collaborations, the panel discussion on biofuels took place between GoodFuels’ Bernard van Haeringen and Daniel Gent, who is the Energy and Sustainability Manager at UECC, the leading provider of short sea roro transportation in Europe. Bernard was invited to join the panel discussion from the perspective of a sustainable biofuels supplier while Daniel shared his take on being an early biofuel adopter from a shipowner’s perspective. 

Watch the full recording of the Alternative Fuels Online Conference 2022 below. The panel discussion on biofuels was moderated by Hans Christian Wintervoll, senior consultant at DNV and Head of the Green Shipping Program Service Centre. The 15-minute session starts at 1:20:30.

 

Gaining experience together

We are honored to contribute to valuable knowledge-sharing initiatives like these and are grateful to DNV for the opportunity. It’s exciting to be able to share our experiences alongside a long-time client like UECC, with whom we kickstarted biofuel trials in 2020. We have seen the leading car carrier company quickly becoming a biofuel frontrunner over the past few years by combining an innovative mindset with an appetite for experimentation.

“One of the main reasons to step into this is that we see the legislation coming down the line.”

Learning to work with sustainable biofuels

As legislation on regulating emissions is on the horizon, the value of gaining experience with alternative fuels like sustainable biofuels is becoming ever more apparent. Fortunately, one of the main advantages of biofuels is that they drop into existing engines without having to modify the existing fuel infrastructure. However, working with sustainable biofuels does require certain levels of technical, commercial, and regulatory know-how. In the second part of the panel discussion, Dan sheds light on what this hands-on experience looks like for UECC.

Start today

Although we very much enjoy sharing knowledge and exchanging ideas on how to best move forward as an industry, we have found that choosing action over more talking is the only way forward. If we are to reach our climate goals, taking action is the only route to creating actual impact. If you’e a shipowner or a fleet manager and you’re not sure where to start, feel free to request a biofuel trial today and we’ll be provide a proper start of your biofuel journey.