Wednesday, 07 July 2021
EveRé, operators of France's first integrated waste treatment centre and shipping group CMA CGM, headline a multiparty agreement which will perform a feasibility study on creating France's first production unit for BioLNG, a low-carbon alternative shipping fuel.
Also party to the project are Engie subsidiary Elengy, who operate LNG terminals at Fos-sur-Mer and TotalEnergies, international producer and supplier of energy.
CMA CGM Group's LNG shipping fleet would be the end users of the BioLNG. Specifically, this will allow French multinational, who announced their low-carbon, biomethane shipping service in April this year, to offer decarbonised services for their fleet departing from the Grand Port Maritime in Marseille.
Emission reductions of 67% relative to Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) and 88% on a tank-to-wake measurement basis have been suggested. This is in addition to sulfur and nitrogen oxide (SOx and NOx) emissions reductions greater than 90% associated with gas fuel usage, in comparison to VLSFO.
The project is seen as beneficial to multiple stakeholders - not only the shipping and transport industry who are keen to reduce emissions in the face of growing public pressure, but also for local residents where the processing of the landfill gas serves to reduce NOx and SOx emissions, improving air quality in the region.
Furthermore, the project takes advantage of existing infrastructure at Grand Port Maritime, including Elengy's LNG pipeline and storage facilities as well as TotalEnergies' bunker vessel, which will be relocated at the port come 2022.
The feasibility study project also falls under the umbrella of the Coalition for the Energy of the Future, founded by CMA CGM in 2019 with the intention to accelerate the development of renewable energy and technologies on the transport and mobility front. The Coalition is currently seventeen members strong, and includes the afforementioned Engie and TotalEnergies.
The CMA CGM reported a 4% reduction in total CO2 emissions in 2020. This is considerable in the context of transport and mobility where emissions have proved difficult to abate; in 2019, EU CO2 transport emissions actually increased from 2018.
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