In the following Caspar Gooren, Carbon Zero Director at Titan LNG, explains why bioLNG is the clear next step along the pathway to maritime decarbonization.
BioLNG production
BioLNG is biogas that has been liquified and therefore can be used as a sustainable marine fuel. Biogas is produced when organic waste and residues ferment and anaerobic digestion occurs. This can be achieved on a commercial scale by putting biomass into a digester to produce biomethane plus bioCO2. This biomethane is then liquified into usable bioLNG. The feedstock for this bioLNG is predominantly domestic and agricultural waste, for example household waste, sewage sledge and manure.
By using waste feedstock, bioLNG production can capture methane that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. Therefore, the outcome is a fuel that is potentially net-negative in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, not just net-zero. By assisting with the recycling of waste, bioLNG production also aids in waste management and supports the circular economic model that most environmentalists and economists agree is critical to combating environmental degradation.
There is more than enough of this feedstock available to scale up bioLNG production and meet the shipping industry’s needs. Especially as some biogas is currently burned in co-generation and fed into the electricity grid, which is not the optimal way of using this energy as power can efficiently be generated from other renewable sources. Take the EU as an example; its total biogas availability is close to 170 terawatt hours. If this was all converted into bioLNG it would make 11 million tonnes. Today, more than enough biogas could be supplied to the shipping industry as bioLNG using EU feedstock alone.
Energy security
Titan LNG has already started work on multiple bioLNG production and off-take projects. FirstBio2Shipping project has received $4.5 million in EU funding. Plant will be located at the Attero facility in Wilp, the Netherlands. The first fuel is set to be produced as early as 2023.
The potential to produce bioLNG locally it can also improve energy security. Governments do not rely on the scarce resources of neighboring nations, but rather can produce their own energy using waste feedstocks. This production can even be decentralized, which decouples energy production from national security.
Diverse feedstocks for bioLNG, such as livestock waste and activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants, are available. This diversity reduces reliance on one particular resource and minimizes exposure to the price fluctuation of that resource. BioLNG also improves energy security by reducing reliance on a single resource and minimizing exposure to price fluctuations.
Marine fuel
LNG will give ship operators competitive advantage over those using oil-based marine fuels within the EU’s ETS, while bioLNG goes a step further and can provide long-term competitive advantage over even traditional LNG.
Whatever happens in the future, with LNG shipowners and operators have a clear long-term pathway to the full decarbonization of their vessels, while reducing emissions right now, adhering to regulations, and offering an advantage within carbon markets.
Particularly, the ability to drop bioLNG into existing LNG-fueled vessels and bunkering infrastructure, and to blend bioLNG with traditional LNG or hydrogen-derived LNG at any ratio.
Engine manufacturers are currently creating LNG dual-fuel engines that can use many of the alternative marine fuels being debated, including bioLNG and hydrogen-derived LNG.
They can choose LNG to tackle emissions right now, and then transition to bioLNG to further reduce emissions as production continues to scale up and become more efficient – all without having to adapt infrastructure.
The maritime industry is well-versed in the other practical benefits of using bioLNG as a marine fuel.
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