Bio4-7Seas – Biofuels in deep sea shipping for climate change mitigation

The shipping sector will strongly grow in the next decades, and by 2050 the associated emissions of CO2 are expected to be as much as 2.5 times higher than today, if mitigation measures are not taken. The use of biofuels for deep-sea shipping is among the key decarbonisation options with the largest climate change mitigation potential, in the order of 50-80%. As it remains a challenge to decarbonise through alternative measures, advanced biofuels produced from lignocellulosic biomass represent the most cost-effective low emission alternative for deep sea shipping. However, a sustainable transition is required because biofuel demands from shipping can add to the growing pressure on land and biomass resources from population growth, economic developments, and other land-based services. Currently, little information exists on the environmental dimension of integrating biofuel value chains with the shipping sector. The ambition of Bio4-7Seas is to fill this research gap by providing a robust understanding of the climate change mitigation potential and environmental effects associated with a growing deployment of biofuels for deep sea fleet. Achieving this requires a multidisciplinary approach combining state-of-the-art competence in biofuel systems, maritime engineering, life cycle assessment, and climate science. This project will integrate and build on the expertise of the FME Bio4Fuels and SFI Smart Maritime. We will integrate maps on the availability of a variety of biomass feedstocks (current and future residues available from agriculture and forestry, dedicated bioenergy crops on marginal land, etc.), inventories of advanced biofuel conversion technologies, and international shipping models within an Earth system model framework to assess the effects, benefits, and potential trade-offs of alternative biofuel utilization pathways in the shipping sector.