The battle lines are being drawn on the alternative fuel debate and the steps that will contribute to the International Maritime Organizations’s (IMO) emission reduction goals, reports The Maritime Executive (Feb. 17, 2025). Major shipping lines and non-government groups are calling for the IMO to exclude biofuels from its list of green alternatives to traditional fossil fuels. They argue it would be unsustainable and could produce more harm than good.
Nearly a third of global shipping could run on biofuel in 2030– up from less than 1% today. But the price advantage of biofuels would result in unsustainable demand. Carriers have invested in the use of biofuels derived from used cooking oil and animal fats. With the supplies limited, just 2.5 – 3% of shipping could run out of used cooking oil and animal fat biofuels by 2030. Two interesting facts:
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The vast majority of biofuels will come from palm and soy (60%), which are heavily linked to deforestation.
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Close to 300 millions bottles of vegetable oil could be diverted to powering ships every day in 2030, putting pressure on grocery prices.
(There was a doubling of the use of palm oil biofuels in the EU between 2010 and 2020 following the introduction of a law promoting biofuels in cars.)
There is a debate in the EU on the competition for food supplies if the oils were also to be used as biofuels. “As things stand the IMO risks doing more harm than good. Palm and soy biofuels are devastating for the climate and they take up vast amounts of land,” argues one shipping exec. The fuel-intensive shipping industry would need farmland about the area of Germany to produce enough crops to meet its increased biofuel demand. Land that could be used for farming would need to be converted to growing biofuel crops, while burning vegetable oil in ships will deprive supermarkets of a staple food item.
This could pose a serious climate problem, as palm and soy are responsible for 2-3 times more carbon emissions than even the dirtiest shipping fuels today, once deforestation and land clearance are taken into account.
Classroom discussion questions:
- We open the Supp. to Chapter 5 (Sustainability in the Supply Chain) with an example of airlines switching to biofuels. Is this a realistic approach given the above article?
- Make the case for and against shippers switching to biofuels.