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GoodFuels: ‘Looking ahead to a better year’

The CEO of GoodFuels has outlined how the company will be “building back from COVID-19” in the 12 months ahead with “sustainability in its sights”. He said: “In 2020, many experts predicted that decarbonisation efforts would be delayed, suspended or entirely abandoned as the entire shipping sector faced one of its biggest challenges in history – the coronavirus outbreak.

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“At a time when University College London’s University Maritime Advisory Services (UMAS) estimated that $1.4 trillion (€1.17 trillion) of investment in land infrastructure, vessel and fuel technological advancements is needed to decarbonise shipping between 2030 and 2050, a new, unexpected and unavoidable situation rightly took attention away from sustainability goals. “Now almost one year on from the outbreak of COVID-19, and with half an eye now being trained on the future once again, we start to see shifts and changes in the way societies and businesses approach their environmental ambitions. “Last year, the industry adjusted rather well to the implementation of the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) global Sulphur Cap, which requires vessels to burn fuel with a sulphur content of 0.5% (or 0.1% in the stricter emissions control areas). “Although there were rumours over quality management issues, fuel quality, and adequate availability – mainly concerning low sulphur fuel oils – the IMO 2020 transition has been relatively smooth and effective.

“The industry must take this broad success and turn its attention to the future targets laid out by the IMO – which requires the industry to meet and exceed at least a 40% reduction in carbon intensity by 2030, and at least a 50% reduction in GHG emissions by 2050, while at the same time pursuing efforts towards phasing them out entirely.

“As we edge further into 2021 and, in the medium term, towards a semblance of normality, there are signs that the sector is taking decarbonisation more seriously. “For example, Canada announced its own national talks on tackling emissions from shipping, where major commodity player Trafigura called for significant carbon taxes, while the agreements forged at the latest Intersessional Working Groupon Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ships at the IMO promoted a mixed reaction because of their perceived lack of ambition.

“Given the limited time frame we have to innovate and scale the solutions needed to achieve these goals, building back from the coronavirus will require an intelligent recovery, where decarbonisation has even more prominence.

Consensus is that the money will follow this ambition. “As summarised by Morgan Stanley: “There may be some short-term delays in climate policy, but decarbonisation remains an attractive investment theme for the decade ahead, with a low or zero carbon recovery likely.” Across the industry, we can see more market leaders intensifying their GHG initiatives, and more collaborations taking place. “For example, GoodFuels partnered with Stena Bulk to complete a trial of heavy fuel oil (HFO)-equivalent bio-fuel oil (BFO) on Stena Immortal. “The trial not only demonstrates the readiness of our compliant and affordable advanced biofuel, but also enables Stena Bulk to futureproof against current and impending regulations and shows the industry that we can reduce the carbon foot print of our industry from today. “There are many first movers of decarbonisation that are now committed to a long term strategy of sustainable investment and business practices. “By embracing the lessons learned from 2020, we can start to champion a more intelligent, socially conscious and environmentally focused recovery. “However, there is still a need for more partnership across the sector as we start the transition from 2020 to 2030, and beyond.

“More organisations should look to work with partners who can enable an immediate and positive impact on the sustainability of their operations, with solutions that are already fully market tested and ready today. “This must happen alongside the development of future fuels, if the sector is to create a smooth transition pathway. “As the first commercialised sustainable biofuel supplier in the shipping industry, GoodFuels provides advanced marine biofuel that works in today’s fleet. “Our core focus at GoodFuels is to scale up biofuel production in the right way using sustainable feedstocks to ensure that shipping can benefit from the carbon neutral fuels and solutions in the immediate term. Using advanced, sustainable biofuel allows for an immediate and effective reduction in carbon emissions, and also reduces a range of other pollutants including sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.

“One of our own key innovations is GoodShipping – founded in 2016 to empower cargo owners and shippers to switch fuel and reduce the environmental impact of their supply chains. “As the world’s first initiative covering all transport modalities to decarbonise the supply chain by replacing fossil fuels with truly sustainable biofuels, our approach means we actually reduce transport emissions, rather than offset them. “We facilitate the fuel switch through our decarbonisation service, which carefully calculates CO₂ emissions to determine different scenarios based on sustainability targets and budgets, before implementing real change and seeing the results for yourself. GoodShipping is a working example of carbon in setting that is market tested and available today. “Many charterers also benefit from being GoodFuels and GoodShipping pioneers, and are supporting us in leading the decarbonisation movement. “This can be seen in our partnerships with Volkswagen Group, IKEA, BMW Group, Meelunie, Tony’s Chocolonely, and Flexport, which can all successfully reduce their seafreight CO₂ emissions and control their supply chain. “By working together, we are showing the shipping industry, and the world, that sustainable solutions to reduce the environmental impact of operations already exist on the market – and that advanced marine biofuels will play an important part in the future alternative fuel mix. “We believe that this way of working together is increasingly necessary in the post-COVID era. We now have a unique opportunity to rapidly accelerate the decarbonisation trajectory of shipping; an opportunity we must grasp for the future of our vessels, our oceans and our planet.”

Article from Biofuel News.