Toyota and Ford have signed up for United European Car Carriers’ (UECC) Sail for Change sustainability programme and will use UECC short-sea ro-ro vessels fuelled by bioLNG for finished vehicle transport across Europe. A third unnamed carmaker has also joined the initiative, according to UECC.
UECC introduced the Sail for Change programme in June this year to give carmakers the opportunity to move their vehicles on vessels powered with renewable fuels.
As part of the programme, UECC has facilitated bunkering of ISCC-EU certified bioLNG on its five LNG dual-fuel and multi-fuel pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) at the Port of Zeebrugge through an earlier agreement with Titan Clean Fuels.
The carmakers’ decision to adopt bioLNG for the transport of their vehicles is estimated to reduce emissions by 80,000 tonnes, equal to more than one third of UECC’s global scope 1 emission from ship operations (220,000), according to UECC. Scope 1 emissions are those directly produced by a company in the course of its business.
For the carmakers it means scope 3 emissions, or those in the wider supply chain for which it is indirectly responsible, are reduced. That in turn means they pay less through the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), which since 2005 has required polluters to pay for their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The move to alternative low-carbon fuels also prepares for the FuelEU Maritime rule set to take effect next year, according to UECC’s energy and sustainability manager, Daniel Gent. The regulation sets maximum limits for the yearly average GHG from energy used by ships above 5,000 gross tonnage calling at European ports. The European Commission said the targets will ensure that the GHG intensity of fuels used in the sector will gradually decrease over time, starting with a 2% decrease by 2025 and reaching up to an 80% reduction by 2050.
UECC’s earlier investments in biofuels and LNG-fuelled newbuildings means it is already set to be in excess of FuelEU compliance until the late 2030s, towards its goal of net-zero operations by 2040.
“UECC has made proactive strides in advancing industry adoption of alternative fuels over the past decade, having also piloted the use of biofuels, and bunkering of bioLNG marks another big step forward, both in reducing the carbon footprint of our clients and increasing demand for low-carbon fuels,” said Gent.
UECC launched its first dual-fuel LNG car carrier in 2016 and in 2020 it introduced the first biofuel to its vessel service. In June of that year BMW purchased CO2 emissions reduction services from UECC. In June 2021 UECC made the first use of residual biofuel from animal products and in January 2022 used the first residual biofuel made from a mixture of fatty acid methyl esters (Fame). The fuel has physical properties similar to those of conventional diesel but is non-toxic and biodegradable.
The first initiative UECC introduced as part of the new. Sail for Change programme was Green Gas Month in July which aimed to deploy liquified bioLNG on all five of its car carriers. That initiative is now being extended beyond July and the company is looking to scale up the programme to allow more companies to participate in future years based on growing demand, according to Gent.
Jean Christophe Deville, vice-president of supply chain at Toyota Motor Europe, said: “Enhancing the sustainability of our logistics is an important step towards our goal to become carbon neutral in Europe by 2040, and globally by 2050. UECC’s Sail for Change programme therefore represents a great opportunity to help us realise this ambition.”
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