Marubeni Corporation, Biofuel technology research and Tabuchi Kaiun present the world’s first initiative to fuel a fully-pressurized LPG carrier
Marubeni Corporation, Biofuel technology research Co., Ltd. and Tabuchi Kaiun Co., Ltd. have jointly brought to fruition an initiative to supply a biofuel for vessels, which is a mixture involving approximately 24% biofuel combined with conventional bunker heavy oil, according to the company's release.
The Biofuel was manufactured in Japan using technology jointly owned by Marubeni and BTR. This is the world’s first initiative to fuel a fully-pressurized LPG carrier, the Buena Reina, a vessel operated by Tabuchi and chartered by Marubeni, with such biofuel.
The three companies achieved safe navigation of the Buena Reina using the Biofuel with an approximately 19% reduction in CO2 emissions per voyage, leveraging Tabuchi’s various technical know-how in this area.
The Biofuel uses biomass-based waste liquid—a by-product of the production of biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester) made from waste cooking oil—and green methanol recovered and refined from by-products of wood pulp manufacturing. Through this process, such waste liquid, which would typically come to constitute industrial waste, is thoroughly recycled. In addition, by using green methanol instead of the conventional methanol manufactured from fossil resources, the Biofuel constitutes a recycled complete green fuel which results in virtually no CO2 emissions.
The Keihin area, where the Buena Reina underwent refueling, also boasts the largest scale port in Japan in terms of the volume of cargo handled, and this also represents the first time that an ocean-going vessel has been supplied with a biofuel in this area.
Furthermore, as part of the refueling operation on the Buena Reina, the world’s first pure battery tanker Asahi, a vessel operated by Asahi Tanker Co., Ltd., which uses renewable energy and was chartered by Marubeni, also achieved zero emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG emissions) during bunkering.
