
Uniper Energy DMCC (UED) and Neutral Fuels have announced that they will collaborate to provide a maritime biofuel, made from used vegetable cooking oil, in the UAE port of Fujairah. The two companies will blend UED’s VLSFO and Neutral Fuels biofuel, creating a maritime fuel that meets IMO standards under the ISO8217:2010 RMG380 specification, thereby cutting emissions of carbon dioxide.
Lars Liebig, Managing Director of UED, said, “The collaboration is aimed to address climate protection, the predominant social issue in the world today. Our mission is to help countries build up reliable and environmentally friendly energy supplies to support a global transition to cleaner energy. Collaborating with Neutral Fuels enables us to accelerate our efforts.”
UED is already supplying up to 500,000 tons of VLSFO per month from its processing plant in the Port of Fujairah. The blended biofuel will be available for a wide range of vessel types including tankers, containerships and feeders.
Gary Hubbard, Chief Commercial Officer of Neutral Fuels, adds, “It is fitting for the UAE to lead the way in making maritime biofuel widely available to the shipping industry. The UAE was quick to adopt the UN’s sustainable development goals and has been particularly active in working to cut emissions of CO2. This is the main culprit that creates the greenhouse gases which cause climate change.”
Neutral Fuels has been manufacturing and supplying biofuel for 10 years across the GCC. The company says that switching to the new green maritime fuel requires no capital outlay, no change to existing engines and no investment in scrubbers for shipowners. Neutral Fuels biofuels are made exclusively from used vegetable cooking oil and have no land-use issues, they are not in competition with food production, and do not cause or support deforestation.