The Netherlands – Wärtsilä collaborated with Carnival Corporation’s Holland America Line and the Netherlands-based GoodFuels to conduct ship trials using biofuel mixes.
In order to assess the impact on both engine emissions and overall engine performance, tests were carried out with 100 percent biofuel in addition to a 70/30 biofuel/diesel blend.
The Holland America Line ship “VolendamWärtsilä “‘s ZA40 engine was the subject of the tests. Although there have been earlier tests with lower biofuel blends, this is Wärtsilä’s first research on a cruise ship using only 100% biofuel.
Wärtsilä’s responsibilities include creating the testing protocols, analyzing the results of the fuel and lubricating oil tests, supervising the tests, and conducting post-testing analysis, such as engine inspections, performance assessments, and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission measurements.
Biofuel tests
The biofuel tests include delivering a 50% reduction in absolute air emissions of particulates by 2030, the aspiration to achieve net carbon neutral operations by 2050, expanding its alternative fuels strategy across its liquefied natural gas (LNG) program and battery, fuel cell, and biofuel capabilities, and achieving a 40% reduction in carbon per available-lower-berth-day by 2030.
The sustainable biofuels that GoodFuels provided for this trial enable sustainable scaling of biofuel uptake in addition to reducing carbon emissions by 80–90%. The fuels used come from feedstocks that are 100% waste or residue according to certification, thus there are no land-use conflicts, challenges to food production, or deforestation.
