Falmouth Harbour has started using cooking oil to fuel its fleet of work boats.
A £50,000 refuelling facility has been created at the harbour’s Marine Hub with 50% match-funding from Cornwall Council’s Growth Hub Grants Programme.
The 6,500-litre facility provides hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) which comes from renewable sources such as used vegetable oils that absorb CO2 during plant growth. When burned, HVO releases the same CO2 it absorbed, meaning there is no net increase in atmospheric CO2.
The HVO, which is being supplied by Redruth-based Mitchell & Webber, is being tested across the Falmouth Harbour work fleet including the new £1.6m state-of-the-art Pilot Boat Atlantic.
Falmouth Harbour chief executive Miles Carden said: “We’re really pleased that HVO can be used as a part of a transition away from fossil fuels and we feel it is a good interim fuel to enable us to rapidly reduce green house gas emissions from our existing fleet of work vessels. We will continue to proactively explore future fuel options as technology progresses.”
Mitchell & Webber director Tristan Weedon added: “HVO fuel is biodegradable, non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, non-hydroscopic (it doesn’t absorb water) and has a higher flashpoint - so not only is it a greener fuel, but it is safer - all of which factors make it an ideal fuel for a marine environment.”
Falmouth Harbour’s HVO fuel facility is being tested with its fleet of work boats over the next eight weeks. if successful, leisure boat owners who have been given the go-ahead from their engine manufacturers should be able to purchase and run their vessels on the renewable fuel later this year.
Cornwall Council's portfolio holder for environment and climate change, Cllr Loic Rich, added: "Reducing our carbon footprint is a key priority for Cornwall Council and I am delighted to see us using Good Growth funding to help make a real difference at one of our key ports.
"I hope that, by switching to HVO, Falmouth Harbour will be leading the way for others to follow towards a greener future."
Cornwall Council’s Growth Hub Grants Programme is part of the Good Growth Programme which is delivering the Ƶ Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
