SHIPPING BIOGAS:A NORTHERN IRISH company plans to build a ship powered by sails and biogas so it can use zero carbon shipping to import woodchips and pellets for the biomass energy market.
B9 Shipping - which is a division of the B9 Energy group, also based in the North - has been working on the concept for about 12 years and hopes to set sail with the ship in 2012.
Sixty per cent of the power could come from the sails and 40 per cent would come from the biogas.
To store sufficient fuel onboard, the company plans to liquefy the methane in biogas and it is collaborating with luxury car maker Rolls Royce on the spark ignition engines designed for liquefied natural gas.
"We are aiming to have our first ship in the water in 2012 to be ready for the first of the biomass power stations coming online in England," says David Surplus, managing director of B9 Shipping.
Depending on how the first €16.7 million demonstration ship goes, the firm may build around 50 more, with a price point of about €13.4 million each, with further ships for the US market possibly being built by a shipbuilder there.
A tanker version of the zero carbon ship, for shipping biofuels, could also be viable, according to the company.
