Scandinavian ferry company, Viking Line is offering passengers the option of contributing to lower emissions by purchasing biogas for their trip.
From 21st June, Viking Line claimed to become the first ferry company to offer passengers an option to participate in reducing carbon emissions from their travel, following similar schemes on tankers and containerships.
Viking operates two luxury ropaxes, ’Viking Grace’ and ’Viking Glory’, which operate between Stockholm, Sweden and Turku, Finland with an intermediate stop in Aland.
‘Viking Grace’ was introduced in 2013 pioneering as an LNG-fuelled ferry. She is of 57,656 gt and can carry 2,800 pax and up to 584 cars. ‘Viking Glory’ joined the service last year. She is of 63,800 gt and can also carry 2,800 pax and up to 550 cars.
They undertake two sailings each day on the route. The trip ranges between from around eight to 12 hours, depending on the timing and which vessel is used.
Under the new programme, passengers are offered the option of buying biofuel in proportion to the amount of fuel used for their journal.
Passengers are paying up to €5 in addition to the fare, which ranges between €45 and €55. The amount of liquefied biogas purchased is based on the average fuel used per passenger.
Viking said that mixing biogas reduces the vessel’s carbon emissions and the passenger’s carbon footprint by up to 90%.
“We are the first shipping company on the Baltic Sea to offer passengers the option of reducing their carbon footprint by replacing LNG with renewable biofuel,” claimed Dani Lindberg, Sustainability Manager at Viking Line.
“Many of our passengers have asked for such an option, and we are really pleased that we can now engage them even more in our work for the environment and the Baltic Sea.”
Both vessels were designed to run on biogas and synthetic fuels produced from renewable energy when available.
Viking has already tested biogas on the ’Viking Grace’ and under the new programme, Viking Line purchases the fuel using the additional funds paid by passengers.
The biogas is made from sustainable sources, such as food and agricultural waste with the company receiving sustainability certificates for every biogas delivery.
“We will now work in partnership with Gasum and our environmentally-aware customers to increase the use of biogas,” Lindberg added.
“The supply of biogas is still limited compared to demand. For example, all biogas produced in Finland is currently used in manufacturing,” adding that the company is working to expand the supply.
Currently, Viking is mixing the biogas with the LNG to fuel the vessels, due to the supply constraints. The company is also taking part in projects to explore the possibility of creating a carbon-neutral green corridor for the Baltic.
