bp and Rio Tinto partner for one-year sustainable biofuel trial

British energy giant bp and Anglo-Australian mining group Rio Tinto have signed an agreement to work on a one-year biofuel trial to help reduce carbon emissions from Rio Tinto’s marine fleet, the companies said on Monday.

Under the trial, bp will supply Rio Tinto with marine biofuel for approximately 12 months, which will be trialled on Rio Tinto’s RTM Tasman vessel on a mix of Transatlantic and Atlantic-Pacific routes, in one of the longest-duration marine biofuel trials to date.

The results of the trial will help Rio Tinto study ways to reduce its carbon emissions from its marine fleet and inform its future biofuel strategy, bp said in a statement.

“Sustainable biofuels are important to help decarbonise the shipping industry in the near- and mid-term as we transition towards longer term net zero solutions,” Sven Boss-Walker, senior vice president refining & products trading at bp, said.

“We’re proud to be working with Rio Tinto to support their work to decarbonise. These trials are part of our ongoing efforts to help accelerate the shipping industry’s energy transition,” he added in a statement.

The agreement follows a successful journey on the RTM Tasman after it refuelled with biofuel in Rotterdam in March 2022 for the first time, bp said. All biofuel refuelling during the trial will be at Rotterdam.

The trial will deploy a bp-manufactured B30 biofuel blend composed of 30 percent fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) blended with very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), a B30 biofuel blend that can reduce lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions by up to 26 percent compared to standard marine fuel oil.

“Sustainable biofuels have the potential to be an important transition fuel on the way to net-zero marine emissions and we are pleased to be working with bp to carry out this long-term trial,” Laure Baratgin, Rio Tinto Head of Commercial Operations, said in a statement.