Stone Oil lauds bill to make US biofuel bunkering attractive
The bipartisan bill put forward by two US representatives is a major step to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the shipping sector, Anthony (Tony) Odak of Stone Oil tells ENGINE.
PHOTO: Aerial view of the Port of New Orleans, Louisiana. Getty Images
If the bill gets approved by Congress, Odak thinks it will be a huge boost for the global shipping decarbonisation movement.
Odak is the chief operating officer of US Gulf Coast-based bunker supplier John W. Stone Oil Distributor. The company has been offering renewable diesel blends for bunkering in the US Gulf Coast region, including to ocean-going vessels.
Unlike harbour crafts operating in domestic US waters, ocean-going vessels do not qualify for biofuels subsidies. That could be about to change.
US representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks and John Garamendi have just introduced the Renewable Fuel for Ocean-Going Vessels Act. If the bill passes through Congress, it will make biofuel blends supplied to ocean-going vessels meet Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requirements. This would mean that producers and suppliers will be able to claim renewables credits from the government, and it could help bring biofuel bunker prices down.
By removing the regulatory barriers that the international maritime industry perceives as "penalties", the bill is expected to not just drive up biofuels demand from ocean-going vessels, but also encourage US biofuel producers to ramp up their supply, Odak says.
Several US biodiesel trade associations such as the Iowa Biodiesel Board and Clean Fuels Alliance America have openly supported the bill introduced by the US representatives.
If the bill passes through Congress, it should make biofuel blends more cost-effective for ocean-going vessels in the US, Iowa Biodiesel Board’s executive director Grant Kimberley told ENGINE earlier this week. Suppliers would be able to supply biofuel blends to ocean-going vessels while preserving the value of their renewables credits that they previously had to forfeit.
The bill put forward needs to be approved by both chambers of Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate, before it can be sent to the President for a final approval.
“Though there is much water that needs to pass under the bridge before this bill would become law, particularly in an election year, it is a testament to all those organizations and individuals that have lobbied to make this a reality,” Odak says.
By Nithin Chandran
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