K Line tests biofuels on tugboat

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha subsidiary K Line Port Service Co bunkered carbon-neutral biodiesel fuel into one of its tugboats in Nagoya Port.

Aiho Maru tug completed a test voyage on biofuel sourced from waste cooking oil, supplied by Toyotsu Energy in May.

This 2004-built vessel has an overall length of 34 m and a beam of 9 m. It was fuelled by a bunkering vessel using a ship-to-ship method 10 May in Nagoya Port.

K Line said the biodiesel used was carbon neutral as defined in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines, which state biodiesel is made from plants which absorb CO2 in the process of growing, so it is regarded as carbon neutral in its lifecycle.

K Line tested the biodiesel could be used without changing the specification of its existing marine diesel engine by mixed combustion with heavy fuel oil, which is the main fuel for this 199-gt tugboat.

The group verified there were no hindrances to a series of ship operations, while reducing CO2 emissions during these tests. K Line said, “This initiative contributes to a circular economy through the construction of a supply chain based on local production for local consumption.”

The demonstration voyage was part of K Line’s long-term environmental guidelines and its Environmental Vision 2050 – Blue Seas for the Future strategy.

The Japanese group has set a target of 50% improvement in CO2 emissions efficiency in comparison with 2008, which exceeds the 2030 target of a 40% improvement in CO2 emission efficiency set by IMO.

K Line also aims to drive its own decarbonisation efforts and support decarbonisation of society by attempting to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

Going forward, the group will continue working to achieve these targets by introducing alternative fuels that can reduce its environmental impact.

As part of this action plan to reduce GHG emissions, K Line is involved in several initiatives for introducing zero-emissions fuels, such as ammonia and hydrogen fuels, and carbon-neutral fuels such as bio-LNG and synthetic fuels.