GCMD: Tracer solutions could combat fraud and support large-scale adoption of marine biofuels

August 26, 2025, by Sara Kosmajac

Biofuel tracers—physical or digital tools that verify and track the supply chain of this sustainable fuel—can be incorporated into existing supply chain practices without disrupting operations or compromising the quality of biofuels, while fighting the possibility of fraud within this landscape.

This is according to a freshly released report by the Singapore-headquartered Global Center for Maritime Decarbonization (GCMD), titled “Tracers for biofuels authentication: Evaluating the efficacy of tracer technologies in marine fuel supply chains.”

The report comes on the heels of trials the organization conducted in major bunkering hubs such as Singapore and Rotterdam, which reportedly examined three specific tracer candidates: synthetic DNA (Tracer A), element-based metalloid (Tracer B), and non-fluorescent organic (Tracer C).

Per GCMD, the trials were part of an initiative aimed at developing a “comprehensive” assurance framework for drop-in green fuels as well as at providing quality, quantity and GHG abatement assurances to tackle adoption barriers in biofuels.

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Across six experiments—wherein the fuels were deployed at the earliest feasible upstream points and tracked to storage and use onboard receiving ships—GCMD shared that a total of 10,400 MT of biofuel blends was bunkered, while a collective 24% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction was realized compared to using conventional fuels.

As disclosed, among the tracer candidates, the organic one turned out to be the most practical solution for tracking authenticity and quantity of biofuels, offering an “optimal” cost balance, detectability, and scalability.

More precisely, Tracer A is said to have been detected at the majority of the sampling points in the initial tests, although detection downstream showed to be ‘inconsistent’, particularly on receiving vessels. During one of the trials, as GCMD has noted, Tracer A was completely undetected despite multiple dosings.

Tracer B, on the other hand, was detected at all sampling points and showed the highest tolerance to harsh operating conditions typical of marine fuel environments, GCMD revealed. That said, discrepancies of 30-40% between expected and detected concentrations pointed to the need for further improvement to achieve “robust” quantification.

As divulged in the report, Tracer C was consistently detected at all sampling locations. At deployment concentrations below five parts-per-million (ppm), detected values closely matched expected concentrations, with discrepancies less than 5%.

Additionally, its cost competitiveness, paired with detectability and ‘robustness’, suggested that Tracer C held ‘tremendous’ potential as both an identifier and quantifier in marine fuel supply chains.

According to the organization’s report, among the most viable near-term solutions for maritime decarbonization are liquid biofuels, specifically fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) and hydrotreated vegetable oils (HVO), as they are, at present, commercially available, can be blended with conventional marine fuels and compatible with existing bunkering infrastructure as well as shipboard systems.

As officials from GCMD have elaborated, current sustainability certification schemes, like the Carbon Certification (ISCC) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), are an important link in the chain of verifying emission reductions of biofuels and determining compliance with regulatory stipulations, such as the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) II.

Nevertheless, these schemes are described as lacking physical, field-level verification, leaving biofuel supply chains vulnerable to adulteration and their emission reductions double-counted “to support false subsidy claims.”

“Our pilot has demonstrated the viability of physical tracers in safeguarding the integrity of marine biofuel supply chains. This was made possible through close collaboration with marine fuel suppliers, end-users, surveyors, testing laboratories, and tracer technology providers,” Lynn Loo, CEO of GCMD, underscored.

To remind, in mid-July 2024, the GCMD completed the final supply chain trial for biofuel blended with very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), bringing a series of pilots launched in July 2022 to an end. The trials come hand-in-hand with the most recent development.

As Offshore Energy reported at the time, the experiments were part of a larger pilot aimed at crafting a framework to provide quality, quantity, and GHG abatement assurances for drop-in fuels.

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