Claimed to be a first in Europe, a high-speed ferry has made a test trip using only fuel from 100% renewable sources.
The ‘Eleanor Roosevelt’, operated by Baleària, is equipped with natural gas hybrid engines and completed the 133 nautical mile route between Barcelona and Ciutadella (Menorca) using renewable biomethane certified by Axpo Iberia.
The use of biomethane as a renewable fuel on the test trip saved more than 50 tonnes of CO2 reaching the atmosphere, the company claimed.
On board the vessel during the test trip, Axpo Iberia, Managing Director, Ignacio Soneira presented a certificate to Baleària’s President, Adolfo Utor, verifying the first emission-free ferry crossing in Europe.
Soneira commented: “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. I am very pleased that Axpo Iberia has once again been able to pioneer and make an important contribution to an emission-free energy future.”
In 2015, Axpo Iberia was the first energy company in Spain to market biomethane. In the shipping sector, the company is also an established supplier of LNG.
Utor, said: “Thanks to the close co-operation with Axpo Iberia, we have today reached an important milestone on our way to emission-free ferry operations. We are counting on biomethane being available in sufficient quantities and affordable in the future to enable us to use this renewable fuel.”
‘Eleanor Roosevelt’ is also claimed to be the world’s first fast ferry to be powered by natural gas hybrid engines.
She recently entered into service to operate between the Spanish mainland and the islands of Ibiza and Mallorca.
