BP to Supply Rio Tinto With Biofuel Bunkers for One-Year Trial

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday May 23, 2022

Global energy company BP is set to provide mining firm Rio Tinto with biofuel bunkers for a one-year trial of the alternative fuel.

Rio Tinto will test a B30 biofuel blend containing 30% FAME with the remainder taken up by conventional VLSFO on board its bulker theĀ RTM TasmanĀ over the next 12 months, BP said in a statement on its website on Monday. The ship will operate on a mix of Transatlantic and Atlantic-Pacific routes while using the fuel.

"Sustainable biofuels have the potential to be an important transition fuel on the way to net-zero marine emissions and we are pleased to be working with bp to carry out this long-term trial," Laure Baratgin, head of commercial operations at Rio Tinto, said in the statement.

"A longer-duration trial will provide important information on the potential role and wide scale use of biofuels, and aligns with our goals to reduce marine emissions across our value chain and support efforts to decarbonise the maritime industry.

"Our ambition is to reach net-zero emissions from shipping of our products to customers by 2050 and to introduce net-zero carbon vessels into our portfolio by 2030.

"We know that we won't meet these ambitions alone and along the way will need to work with capable and experienced companies such as bp."