EMEA News
Denmark to Build Sulfur-Free Biomass Marine Fuel Plant
Denmark is building the world's first biomass-based plant producing marine fuel, according to the partners in the project, the Port of Frederikshavn, Steeper Energy of Canada, and Aalborg University.
The plant will initially produce 50,000 to 100,000 tonnes of sulfur-free fuel per year, using wood from Russia, the Baltic region, Sweden, Finland, and Canada.
Mikkel Seedorf Sørensen, CEO of the Port of Frederikshavn, says the reduction of allowed sulfur content within Emission Control Areas (ECAs) in 2015 could create a market for the fuel of 900,000 tonnes per year or more.
"This will not only be significant for the future customers to the sustainable marine fuel, but will also create jobs and bring more traffic into the port," said Mikkel Seedorf Sørensen, CEO of the Port of Frederikshavn.
Aalborg University will research the use of local feedstocks in an effort to broaden the range of inputs that can be used before scaling up the project.
"This is a great example of a public-private partnership with a huge potential both for the environment and for business and job creation," said Nick Hækkerup, Denmark's minister for trade and European affairs.
"Infrastructure is highly prioritized in Denmark and the Port of Frederikshavn will be the perfect setting for the planned production plant."
The biofuel will be a drop-in fuel capable of being mixed with fuel already in ships' tanks.
The fuel production, using hydrothermal liquefaction technology, will produce platform chemicals that otherwise come from fossil sources, as well as fuel, said Lasse Rosendahl, a professor at Aalborg University's Department of Energy Technology.
Hydrothermal liquefaction, which breaks down material using heated and pressurized water, allows for a greater range of biomass inputs than other biomass-based fuels such as ethanol, according to researchers at Aalborg University and fellow Danish institution Aarhus University.
