The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonization (GCMD) is working on a protocol to figure out if a biofuel blend is sustainably sourced or not, using the same equipment that would be found in any bunker fuel quality testing lab. This is a growing compliance issue for the industry because of increasing volumes of Chinese-made FAME fuels (biodiesel) on the market, which may or may not be made from legitimately sustainable feedstock.
FAME (fatty acid methyl esters) can be made from any natural fat, including animal fat, vegetable oils and used cooking oils. Better known as biodiesel, it is a standard ingredient in over-the-road diesel fuel in the United States and Europe.
FAME's main ingredient is natural, but its environmental impact depends on how it is sourced. Palm oil is the lowest-cost fat on the market, but comes with significant environmental baggage, including deforestation and associated emissions. By contrast, mill waste from palm oil production would normally be thrown away, so it is considered a low-emissions feedstock. Used cooking oil is also considered a low-carbon source.
Like conventional fuels, different sources of biodiesel can be hard to tell apart. Environmental advocates have warned for years that Chinese suppliers may be selling a sustainable "used cooking oil methyl esters" product that is actually made with virgin palm oil, a less expensive and more environmentally problematic substitute. Chinese exports of "used cooking oil" biodiesel began to flood into the EU in 2022, prompting a steep drop in price. A 13 percent Chinese government export subsidy underwrote the cost of these sales.
This past summer, the EU imposed a steep 36 percent anti-dumping tariff on imported Chinese biodiesel. Amidst allegations of fraud, Beijing suspended the export subsidy on December 1. These actions will reduce China's "sustainable" biodiesel exports for over-the-road markets, and exports to Europe have reportedly plummeted.
A share of the Chinese FAME export volume is making its way into biofuel bunker blends for shipping, and this may increase over time. Shipowners need a way to find out if their bio-blends will meet EU emissions standards, since virgin palm oil-based fuel would not be as helpful with compliance. This is where GCMD's researchers come in: using a standard gas chromatography setup - a piece of chemistry equipment that vaporizes a sample and separates the resulting molecules for measurement - GCMD has cataloged "fingerprints" for different forms of FAME. The Singapore-based center's team collected 16 FAME samples from various suppliers and tested them to determine the feedstock. They tested known samples from virgin oils and a variety of stocks labeled as "used cooking oil." Almost all of the used-oil samples came back as palm oil-derived - as expected, since palm oil is a dominant source of cooking oil in Asia.
In six samples, the testing found higher levels of linoleic acid, a telltale signature that the feedstock had been heated. This is a sign of legitimate used cooking oil in the supply, and could be developed into a quick test for authentic sustainable FAME, GCMD said. The test was also able to determine the relative amount of fossil diesel in the blend, so that the shipowner can ensure that the bunker supplier is indeed providing a FAME-containing fuel.
On its own, this test can't tell the difference between virgin palm oil and palm mill effluent, since both come from the same plant and have the same makeup. But the mill effluent feedstock should contain higher levels of metals, and with further study, testing for elevated amounts of iron and zinc might reveal the true nature of a "mill effluent"-based product.
source: www.maritime-executive.com
