Stolt Tankers details carbon insetting program

Stolt Tankers has outlined how the business’s carbon-insetting program is helping to reduce Scope 1 emissions and supporting its partners to lower emissions within their own supply chains.

Giorgio Guadagna, Stolt Tankers’ Business Partner – Sustainability and Decarbonization, explained that the program is supporting participants to achieve their respective sustainability goals.

For Stolt Tankers, this includes realizing its ambitions to reduce its carbon intensity by 50% (relative to 2008) and operate at least one carbon-neutral ship by 2030 and be fully carbon-neutral by 2050.

“Carbon insetting has almost become standard practice in container shipping, but is still relatively new for tankers. It allows us to share the cost of biofuels with participating partners, and help lower both our Scope 1 emissions and their Scope 3s,” Giorgio said. 

“Essentially, the program gives our customers (and interested stakeholders) the opportunity to contribute to the additional cost of more sustainable fuels – which have the potential to lower fuel lifecycle emissions by more than 75%* – even if their cargo is not physically on the ship where this type of fuel is used. Given the cost and limited availability of biofuels, this approach allows us to increase our chances of making biofuels a viable option and using them more widely.”

Specifically, the program is looking at FAME-based (fatty acid methyl ester) biodiesel, which is best suited to the engines on Stolt Tankers’ ships. The fuel must also be ‘second generation’ meaning it is produced from waste, and ISCC certified to ensure its sustainability credentials. 

To date, Stolt Tankers has used 3,000 tonnes of this biofuel on a small number of ships completing voyages between Europe and the US. And there are plans to use it on more voyages before the end of this year and in early 2024. 

“Biofuels do not dramatically change our onboard tank-to-wake emissions – that is, those that come from using fuel once it is in the tank,” Giorgio explained.

“But they do allow us to significantly lower emissions over the lifecycle of the fuel – from its production until it is actually used – by more than 75%.”  

Last month, Stolt Tankers teamed up with UK software company to launch a pilot project to further reduce CO₂ emissions from the vessels. The initiative introduces behavioural change techniques to improve fuel efficiency offshore and supports Stolt Tankers’ aim to reduce emissions while continuing to protect people and the environment.