EMEA News
Hapag-Lloyd Announces Biofuel Trial to Cut Carbon Emissions
Container line Hapag-Lloyd has recently bunkered a biofuel blend onto one of its vessels to gauge its potential for reducing the company's carbon emissions.
The company has fuelled the Montreal Express at Rotterdam with what it calls B20, a blend of 80% low sulfur fuel oil and 20% biofuel, it said Monday.
Hapag-Lloyd is testing the operational impact of the fuel as the ship operates between Europe and Canada, it said, and if the trial is successful it will consider using the fuel on more vessels.
"By the end of this year, we want to have reduced our specific CO2 emissions by 50 percent compared to the reference year 2008," Jörg Erdmann, senior director for sustainability management at Hapag-Lloyd, said in a statement.
"Biofuels like 'B20' can help us reach this target.
"This is because, in addition to having a low sulphur content, the fuel also emits less climate-damaging CO2 during combustion."
The International Maritime Organization has set an initial strategy of reducing shipping's carbon emissions per transport work by at least 40% from 2008's levels by 2030, and cutting shipping's total greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2050.
While the B20 blend in conjunction with energy efficiency measures may be enough to meet the 2030 target, any fuel that includes conventional petroleum-based fuels is unlikely to be of use meeting the 2050 target.
