NYK advances study on generating biofuel from organic waste onboard ships

Japenese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) is advancing its study on generating biofuel from the organic waste stored onboard oceangoing vessels with a new memorandum of understanding (MoU).

NYK has signed an MoU with Astomos Energy, an LPG distributor, and Sustainable Energy, a company that specializes in biomass power generation from waste collection.

The aim of the agreement is to jointly study the establishment of a marine transportation system having less environmental impact through the effective use of organic substances generated onboard ships.

The MoU follows NYK’s recent investment in Sustainable Energy, a developer of an integrated subcritical-water organic-waste power-generation system (ISOP).

ISOP decomposes organic substances using subcritical-water-treating technology and ultimately produces green energy products such as biofuels.

In addition, more onboard storage space can be made available through the onboard processing of organic materials generated during the voyage. ISOP is thus expected to improve the working environment of seafarers in terms of sanitary conditions.

The parties have agreed to start a joint study with a view to develop an organic fuel conversion business by installing Sustainable Energy’s ISOP system onboard ships.

As disclosed, the companies will proceed with a joint study targeting completion of the onboard demonstration test and implementation of ISOP on a vessel by the mid-2020s.

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