Americas News
Petrobras Carries Out Brazil's First Biofuel Blend Bunkering
Brazilian energy firm Petrobras has carried out the country's first commercial bunkering of a biofuel blend.
On December 31 the company bunkered Transpetro's LPG tanker the Darcy Ribeiro with a biofuel bunker blend at Rio Grande do Sul, it said in a statement on its website last week.
The blend contained 10% biodiesel and 90% conventional marine fuel, and will be tested over the course of the next two months.
"In the first stage of the project, during the tests carried out in the laboratory of the Petrobras Research and Development Center (Cenpes), no impacts were found in meeting the main properties of the bunker specification," the company said in the statement.
"The assessment of the burning quality and the stability of the mixture indicated the approval for the field test in a sea vessel.
"It is expected that the operation of the ship will confirm the laboratory results and will be uneventful in the performance of the engines, filters, and fuel purification systems."
Biofuel bunker blends are growing in popularity as a drop-in replacement for conventional marine fuels that can deliver immediate cuts in lifecycle GHG emissions. Trials carried out so far indicate the blends are performing well in marine engines, but their high price remains offputting.
