Biofuels for Maritime Transportation: A Spatial, Techno-Economic, and Logistic Analysis in Brazil, Europe, South Africa, and the USA

Francielle Carvalho,Alexandre Szklo,Joana Portugal-Pereira,Martin Junginger

doi:10.3390/en14164980

Francielle Carvalho, Alexandre Szklo + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/en14164980

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Abstract

Low or zero carbon fuels are crucial for maritime transportation decarbonization goals. This paper assesses potential localities for maritime biofuels (biobunkers) production in Brazil, Europe, South Africa, and United States considering geographical, logistic, and economic aspects. This assessment combines georeferenced and techno-economic analyses to identify suitable fuel production hotspots based on not only plant performance and costs but also on logistic integration and biomass seasonality. Five technology pathways were considered: Straight vegetable Oils (SVO), Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVO), Fischer–Tropsch Biomass-to-liquids (FT-BTL), Alcohol oligomerization to middle distillates (ATD), and Hydrotreated Pyrolysis Oil (HDPO). Findings reveal that biomass concentration in Brazil makes it the region with highest biobunker potential, which are mostly close to coastal areas and surpasses regional demand. Although other regions registered more limited potentials, hotspots proximity to ports would enable fossil fuel replacements in these areas. For all cases, biobunker costs (USD 21–104/GJ) are higher than conventional marine fuels prices (USD 11–17/GJ). Only 15% of the hotspots’ carbon prices that would allow its competitiveness are lower than USD 100/tCO2. Alternatives to incentivize biobunker production would be, first, to establish mandatory fuel blends and second, to join forces with other sectors that would be benefited from the co-production of advanced biofuels.

Highlights

The ocean-going ships consume a large amount of petroleum derived fuels, and the maritime sector is responsible for over 3% of anthropogenic GHG emissions [1]
Brazil and United States (US) are the regions with lower estimates, while values for Europe are far higher
Feedstock costs for Straight vegetable Oils (SVO) represent its market prices ranging from USD 20/GJ to USD 45/GJ, much higher than residues costs

Summary

Introduction

The ocean-going ships consume a large amount of petroleum derived fuels, and the maritime sector is responsible for over 3% of anthropogenic GHG emissions [1]. Together with optimized operations and energy efficiency, alternative low or zero carbon fuels are crucial for maritime transportation [2,3,4]. Biofuels represent an important option to simultaneously reduce fossil fuel dependence and GHG and air pollutants emissions. The less strict specifications and higher flexibility in terms of fuel supply (than road and aviation sector, for example), represent an opportunity to produce maritime biofuels (hereafter biobunker) [5]. In view of the sector’s well established operational structure and long lifespan of ships, drop-in fuels are the most feasible alternatives, at least in the mid-term [4,5,6]

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