Bio Oils Documentation for NavigaTE 1.0

Published — February 1, 2022

Bio-oils as marine fuel

Prospects for the shipping industry

Key takeaways

Bio-oils can be produced by several existing and maturing pathways

▪ Bio-oils encompass a range of technologies that convert biological material into an oil-like substance

▪ Bio-oils on the market include FAME and HVO, producible from waste oils orfood feedstocks. These have been excluded in the first version of the position paper due to low supply of waste feedstocks1 and the debatable sustainability of food-based bio-fuels

▪ New technologies are emerging for producing bio-oils from plentiful feedstocks, such as biomass and biowaste2 at low carbon intensities: Fast pyrolysis (FP) and Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL)

▪ FP and HTL oil are producible in a range of qualities, depending on the amount of upgrading applied: Here we assess a low cost un-upgraded “crude” which requires blending with other fuels to reach specifications, and an upgraded “oil” achieved using hydrotreatment with catalysts which is usable in oil engines without blending

▪ The maximum blending grade of crude oils is being investigated, and current results indicate 30% for FP crude and 40% for HTL crude

▪ Lignin Diesel Oil has also been excluded from this first molecule paper due to insufficient information

▪ Pyrolysis Crude / Oil has also been excluded