The UK’s National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is trialling the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as a fossil-free marine fuel for two of the country’s Royal Research Ships (RRS): the 89.2m James Cook and the 52m Discovery. The trial is being funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), which owns both vessels, to support a UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) target to achieve net-zero emission operations by 2040.
Kevin Williams, head of Research Ships Engineering at NOC, comments: “NOC is focused on understanding and protecting our ocean. Reducing our own environmental footprint and the carbon emissions from our vessels is a major part of that.” Before adopting HVO for this trial, both ships used low-sulphur marine gas oil. NOC adds: “HVO is one of the more stable biofuels, which means it’s suitable for the different conditions NOC vessels operate in: from high-temperature regions to the Arctic.” However, Williams concedes, HVO cost and availability remain stumbling blocks for the time being.
Other NOC clean-fuel initiatives include: onboard battery power assessments, to reduce the use of the ships’ main engines during scientific missions; a focus on marine operations planning, to reduce overall vessel transit times; and more efficient routing, based on weather analysis.
