Ethanol Blog

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- Poet LLC announced on Monday that it recently supplied ethanol for the first 100% ethanol bunkering operation in the U.S. at the Port of Houston.

The successful trial was conducted by A.P. Moller-Maersk, one of the world's largest maritime shipping companies, according to a news release from Poet.

"The successful operation was made possible through collaboration across the maritime and biofuels industries," Poet said on Monday.

"Maersk provided the vessel and championed bioethanol as a marine fuel. Kirby Corporation supported the marine bunkering operation and transportation of the fuel. Port of Houston provided critical port coordination and infrastructure, while the U.S. Coast Guard supported the regulatory requirements necessary to conduct the first U.S.-based 100% bioethanol bunkering operation."

As the 11th-largest U.S. container exporter, Poet can connect the value chain from American farms to international markets.

Poet produces more than 3 billion gallons of ethanol annually across its network of 35 plants.

"Seeing American-made bioethanol move from the farm to a container ship in one of the nation's largest ports is an exciting moment for our industry," said Jeff Broin, founder and CEO of Poet.

"Bioethanol is an abundant, affordable, and clean option for the marine sector. It demonstrates what is possible when partners across the value chain work together to open new markets for American agriculture."

Emma Mzhari, Maersk vice president of energy markets, said ethanol has the potential to contribute to the future energy mix for shipping.

"Bioethanol can offer another scalable, lower-emission fuel option and greater flexibility in how the maritime industry approaches its transition to lower-carbon fuels," Mzhari said.

"This operation with Poet is an important step in exploring how bioethanol can be incorporated into marine-fuel supply chains in the United States."

Also on Monday, Growth Energy released a 50-page report looking at the potential marine ethanol market.

The report concluded that ethanol is technically ready for commercial shipping and could become a major new market for ethanol producers.

Global marine shipping used about 259 million metric tons of fuel in 2023, according to the report, or equivalent to 86 billion gallons of fuel.

If ethanol were broadly adopted in the industry, the report said that in theory, ethanol could account for about 118 billion gallons annually.

"A central finding is that ethanol shares many important properties with methanol," the report said.

"Existing methanol-capable dual-fuel marine engines can operate on ethanol with little or no modification."

The report, "Evaluation of Ethanol Use in Marine Shipping", by researchers at the National Laboratory of the Rockies, said one of the biggest obstacles for ethanol is fueling infrastructure.

The marine industry requires dedicated storage tanks, blending systems, loading facilities and ship-to-ship bunkering capabilities, the report said.

The report said the marine industry still needs fuel-quality specifications for ethanol, and without that, some companies could hesitate to push forward on ethanol.

In addition, the report identifies competition from other low-carbon fuels as a challenge for ethanol. That includes methanol, renewable methanol, ammonia, liquid natural gas, bio-liquid natural gas and renewable diesel.

The report argues that ethanol has already cleared the technical hurdle.

Read the Growth Energy report: https://growthenergy.org/…

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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