Issue 69
October 13, 2006

EnviroZine: Environmnent Canada's On-line Newsmagazine

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Marine shipping industry tests waters with BioShip project

The Anna Desgagnés, Photo: © Groupe Desgagnés – Click to enlarge

On July 2, 2006, the merchant vessel Anna Desgagnés set out to ship its standard cargo of heavy machinery, trucks and freights to ports along the Atlantic coast, all the way into Resolute Bay, one of the northernmost points in Canada.

In addition to its usual cargo, the hulking 17 850 ton ship – part of the Transport Desgagnés fleet – had something else onboard. As part of a pilot project called BioShip, one of the four generators powering the ship was running on a unique blend of rendered animal fats and cooking oils.

Rothsay Biodiesel, a division of Maple Leaf Foods Ltd., provided 115 000 litres of their animal-based biofuel – biodiesel – for the BioShip project. The generator ran on B20, a blend of 20 per cent biodiesel and 80 per cent petrodiesel.

Rothsay Biodiesel plant in Montreal, Que., Photo: Thierry Mezzana, Environment Canada – Click to enlarge

The Anna Desgagnés is expected to return in October, after logging some 38 800 kilometres. Once it arrives, Environment Canada's Environmental Technology Centre will use mobile gear to measure the exact emissions produced by the generator. The tests will be compared to those taken before the switch was made to biodiesel.

The vessel's CO₂ emissions are expected to be reduced by the equivalent of about 400 tonnes per year.

The project follows the path chartered by the BioMer and BioPeche projects, which tested the use of biofuel in tour boats and on a fishing vessel, respectively. BioShip is investigating the potential for, and challenges of, using biodiesel in the marine shipping industry.

The project was made possible through the collaboration of Transport Canada, Environment Canada, Maritime Innovation, Sine Nomine Group and Transport Desgagnﾃｩs Inc. In addition to providing specialized scientific support, Environment Canada's Environmental Technology Centre also contributed funding to the project.

Carole Campeau of Transport Desgagnés said the project has been positive to date and that the biodiesel has worked well with the equipment.

One of the benefits of using biodiesel is that no changes to existing engines or generators are required. In fact, it has both cleaning and lubricating properties. As for taking the fuel into some of Canada's coldest destinations, biodiesel can be used in cold weather as long as it is blended with petrodiesel at 20 per cent or lower.

Fast Facts

Biodiesel is 10 times less toxic than table salt and as biodegradable as sugar. This makes biodiesel ideal for use in environmentally sensitive areas.

Biodiesel provides increased lubricity, increasing engine performance and decreasing engine wear.

Restaurants in Canada generate nearly 200 million kilograms of spent cooking fats and oils every year.

Biodiesel is safer to handle and transport than petroleum.

Biodiesel can be used in all diesel vehicles with minimal or no engine modifications and provides as much power as normal diesel fuel.

Related Sites

Biodiesel – NRCan

Rothsay Biodiesel

BioShip project – Transport Desgagnés

Related EnviroZine Article

Green Gasoline

A unique biodiesel

Biodiesel is created through a chemical process called transesterification, which involves the separation of glycerine from fat or vegetable oil. The process leaves behind two products – methyl esters, the chemical name for bio-diesel, and glycerine, a once valuable byproduct for soaps and other products.

Rothsay biodiesel is made by combining, exclusively, rendered animal fats and recycled cooking oils with methanol.

The growth of the biodiesel industry has led to an oversupply of glycerine and additional research and development will be required to find other uses for the product to keep the industry cost-competitive.

Rothsay has become a leader in the biodiesel industry in Canada and is one of only two Canadian producers that use rendered animal fats as a fuel source (the other is Biox Corporation based in Hamilton, Ontario). In 2001, Rothsay supplied 550 000 litres of biodiesel to fuel 155 Montreal Urban Transit buses for a full year as part of Montreal's BIOBUS project. For the BioMer project, Rothsay supplied the biodiesel to fuel 12 cruise ships in the Old Port of Montreal.

Rothsay commissioned its Montreal facility in November 2005, becoming Canada's first commercial-scale biodiesel plant. Located on Montreal's South Shore, in Ville Ste. Catherine, the facility can currently process 35 million litres of biodiesel per year.

According to Natural Resources Canada data, that 35 million litres of biodiesel is equal to taking 16 000 light trucks or 22 000 cars off the road (the equivalent of 122 000 tonnes of greenhouse gases). Based on a life cycle assessment, each tonne of biodiesel produced from recycled oils and fats reduces greenhouse gas emissions by three tonnes. It can also reduce other tailpipe emissions, including smog-causing particulate matter and harmful carcinogens.

If not used to produce biodiesel, agro-industry waste – slaughterhouse waste, recycled cooking oil, non-food-grade virgin oil and agricultural surplus – would otherwise be discarded into the environment where it would release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

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Issue 69 October 13, 2006

Marine shipping industry tests waters with BioShip project

A unique biodiesel

Issue 69
October 13, 2006