Greener shipping: China can bolster global climate change fight by using biofuel in ships instead of exporting it, Dutch start-up 123Carbon says
- Start-up sees strong opportunities in China, 123Carbon’s Jeroen van Heiningen says
- 123Carbon won the top prize at this year’s Captain’s Table shipping and logistics innovation ideas pitching competition, held as part of last week’s Hong Kong Maritime Week event
Doing so would allow the global shipping industry to cut the emissions and costs arising from the shipping of biofuels, said Jeroen van Heiningen, managing director and co-founder of the transport carbon emissions reduction registry operator. Cargo owners could use digital technology to account and pay for carbon emission reduction benefits, he added.
The company, formed in 2021, launched a digital registry in January for marine, air and road transport carbon reduction initiatives. Its platform aims to allow low-carbon fuel suppliers and shipping companies to issue, manage and sell externally verified emissions reduction certificates, which can be used by cargo owners and freight forwarders to make reduction claims on their supply-chain emissions.
“We are working on appointing an agent to bring knowledge to the China market, because we see strong opportunities here,” van Heiningen told the Post. “China has strong capacity in biofuel production, and it can deliver biomethanol.”
China’s biodiesel production rose by a third to 2.4 billion litres last year from 2021, according to the US Department of Agriculture. It was almost entirely exported to the European Union, especially Holland, which imposed an emissions cap-and-trade system on its road transport sector.
