Cargo boat and US navy ship powered by algal oil in marine fuel trials

[xchrom]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/13/maersk-cargo-boat-algal-oil?intcmp=122

Giant cargo boats and US navy warships have been successfully powered on oil derived from genetically modified algae in a move which could herald a revolution in the fuel used by the world's fleets – and a reduction in the pollution they cause.

The results of substituting algal oil for low-grade, "bunker" fuel and diesel in a 98,000-tonne container ship are still being evaluated by Maersk, the world's biggest shipping company, which last week tested 30 tonnes of oil supplied by the US navy in a vessel travelling from Europe to India. Last month, the navy tested 20,000 gallons of algal fuel on a decommissioned destroyer for a few hours. Both ran their trials on a mix of algal oil – between 7% and 100% – and conventional bunker fuel.

"The tests are not complete yet, but we had very few problems," a Maersk spokesman said.

Collaboration between the world's two biggest shipping fleets is expected to lead to the deployment of renewable marine fuels. Maersk uses more than $6bn of bunker fuel a year for its 1,300 ships, and the US navy, the world's biggest single user of marine fuels, burns around 40m barrels of oil a year. The navy plans to test more ships on algal fuel next year as part of its "green fleet" initiative and has pledged to cut 50% of its conventional oil use a year by 2020. Maersk hopes to achieve similar cuts in the same time.

[AlecBGreen]

1. 50% by 2020

Thats an ambitious goal. Now if only we could attempt the same thing for passenger vehicles. I know, dream on right?

[Kolesar]

2. Coal to liquids

The Pentagon wants to build a coal to liquid fuel plant near Steubenville, Ohio.