EMEA News
UK Groups Investigate New Bunker Fuel with No Sulfur Emissions
A group of UK businesses including Lloyd's Register, Aquafuel Research Ltd, Marine South East Ltd., and Redwing Environmental Ltd. are investigating the use of glycerol as a fuel for marine diesel engines, the news site of the International Boat Industry (IBI) reports.
The partnership, called the GLEAMS project, says there is an oversupply of glycerol, a by-product of the biofuel industry, on the market, and diesel engines would need only modifications of their external engine aspiration systems to use it as a fuel.
The group says glycerol burns more efficiently than diesel with low nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, no sulfur emissions, and little particulate matter emissions.
"Although glycerol can be used in diesel engines of any size, until a comprehensive distribution network is established GLEAMS will concentrate upon markets where limited volumes of fuel are required and bunkering typically takes place at a single location," the group said in a statement.
Markets could include small commercial, leisure, and offshore support vessels, as well as ferries, fishing boats, and other small craft.
The group plans to hold a workshop on possible commercialisation of the technology on February 27, 2014, hosted by Lloyd's Register in London.
Membership in GLEAMS is available at this site: http://groupspaces.com/GLEAMSInterestGroup/join/
Last year, Maine Maritime Academy and SeaChange Group LLC (SeaChange Group) said they were developing a fuel made from a mix of glycerol and diesel.
