Japanese shipping firm Mitsui OSK Lines (Mol) has conducted a 30pc biofuel-blended (B30) marine fuel bunkering trial on its power plant coal carrier serving Japanese utility Hokuriku Electric Power, as part of efforts to promote the two companies' decarbonisation drive.
This trial marks the first usage of B30 in Japanese power utilities' shipping, Mol and Hokuriku announced on 27 June.
The 90,000-deadweight tonne (dwt) coal carrier HOKULINK was refuelled with 30pc biofuel-blended marine fuel at Yeosu Port in South Korea and departed for Australia on 26 June to load coal. The vessel is scheduled to return to Japan around August to provide the coal for Hokuriku's power plants, according to Hokuriku.
The mixed biofuel will reduce around 30pc of CO2 emissions compared with using only conventional marine fuel, the two companies said. The blended biofuel is derived from biomass feedstock including used cooking oil (UCO).
Mol group is targeting to reduce 45pc of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in transportation by 2035 compared with 2019 levels and has set its net-zero emissions goal for 2050. It also plans to adopt more clean fuel including biofuel to achieve this goal.
