EMEA News
Finnish Research Vessel Experimenting With Bio-Oil Fuel
Finnish environment institute SYKE announced that it has begun experimenting with using bio-oils made from food industry byproducts as marine fuel aboard its marine research vessel, Aranda.
The institute noted that early this year the Aranda already been using bio-oils, which are made from products such as vegetable oils and fish guts, for heating purposes.
"For the next step of the trial, we will start burning a mix of mineral-based marine diesel and bio-oil in the vessel's main engines during upcoming trips, looking to find the optimal ratio for efficient and economical engine operation with the highest possible proportion of bio-oil," said human resources development manager Juha Flinkman.
The aim is to ultimately reduce the vessel's carbon emissions as the proportion of bio-oil used increases.
Flinkman added that it's fairly easy to know what products the bio-oil is made of just by its smell.
"The ship's crew and visitors have noted that the smells wafting from the heating boiler remind them of traditional English fish and chips, so the smells of the exhaust gases are a good indicator of the fuel's origin," she said.
The bio-oil is was created by Finnish shipping company VG-Shipping at its manufacturing plant in Uusikaupunki.
Last year, a British university was reported as developing a bio-oil made from forest wood waste for use as a marine fuel.
