The UK is trialling used cooking oil on the ocean research ship James Cook.
The trials have been funded by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) to use hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) — a biofuel capable of being blended with marine fuels or directly switched.
Two Royal Research Ships are taking part in the trials, RRS James Cook (built 2006) and RRS Discovery (built 2013).
Kevin Williams, the centre’s head of research ships engineering, said: “As a research organisation, NOC is focused on understanding and protecting our ocean.
“Reducing our own environmental footprint is a key part of that and the carbon emissions from our vessels is a major part of that.”
The NOC said HVO is an ideal substitute for low-sulphur marine gasoil as it is a stable biofuel that can be used in hot regions as well as the freezing temperatures of the Arctic and Antarctic.
However, it recognises that price and availability are a serious constraint to its long-term use.
The trials are part of a project under UK Research & Innovation.
The project includes exploring the deployment of marine batteries when the vessels are undertaking in-situ scientific operations, as well as focusing more on shipboard energy efficiencies such as marine operations planning, and more efficient voyage and weather routing.
