Spanish ferry operator Baleària’s LNG-powered ferry Eleanor Roosevelt has made a test crossing using renewable biomethane certified by Axpo Iberia.
This is an important milestone for zero-emission maritime shipping as, for the first time in Europe, a high-speed ferry has made a test crossing using only fuel from 100 per cent renewable sources.
The ferry Eleanor Roosevelt , equipped with natural gas hybrid engines, completed the route of 133 nautical miles between Barcelona and Ciutadella (Balearic island of Menorca) using renewable biomethane.
The use of biomethane as a renewable fuel on the test trip avoided the emission of more than 50 tonnes of CO2.
Eleanor Roosevelt is a pioneering fast ferry and the seventh Baleària ship to use LNG. Each year, it is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions equivalent to eliminating more than 8,900 conventional passenger cars or planting almost 27,000 trees.
Besides being a suplier of LNG, Axpo Iberia was the first energy company in Spain to market biomethane in 2015.
Axpo Iberia managing director Ignacio Soneira said: “The enormous challenges of achieving a carbon-free world demand the use of all the means at our disposal. This includes using energy produced from waste converted into biomethane.”