Gasum has provided LNG and bio-LNG for use in a dry bulk cargo vessel and a motor vessel. The aim of the experiment is to determine whether LNG could be used in small amounts, together with bio-LNG, in order to reduce carbon emissions.
For the moment, a larger-scale use of bio-LNG has been put off owing to low production levels of bio-LNG and its relatively high cost, Gasum said in a statement.
But Argus Media said that more and more companies were considering the use of liquefied bio-gas in their supply chains as a factor in reducing carbon emissions. Biogas is already used as a fuel in land transport, particularly in buses.
Gasum, Argus said, was already in discussion about running the two vessels on bio-LNG.
Argus quoted Gasum as saying that efforts to remove CO2 emissions from the transport chain “would require replacing all LNG with bio-LNG and replacing the diesel fuel used to power the ship’s engine with fossil-free biodiesel”.
The Norwegian biogas producer Biokraft had previously signed a contract on supplying bio-LNG for 7 ½ years to the Norwegian cruise liner company Hurtigruten. The accord calls for nearly daily shipments of bio-LNG for large cruise liners, with the first shipments due to start this year.
Hurtigruten plans next year to replace traditional engines on at least six of its vessels with gas-powered engines and large battery packs. The hybrid ships will run on a combination of clean electric power, LNG and bio-LNG.
