Port of Vancouver conducts successful tests on renewable diesel use for a federal vessel

Efforts to test alternative fuels on one of the port authority’s patrol boats, the Takaya, vessel have proven successful, making the port authority the first federal agency in Canada to run a vessel on 100% renewable diesel.

The joint initiative by the Port of Vancouver and the Province of British Columbia was done as part of the Low-Emission Technology Initiative. Made from organic sources, such as vegetable, oil and animal fats, the 100% renewable diesel will help the port move closer to Canada’s net-zero-emissions goal by 2050.

After completing alternative fuel tests on the Takaya, the B.C. provincial government and the port concluded that the substantial port infrastructure and assets currently running on conventional diesel, such as vessels, trucks, and cranes, could be switched to more sustainable fuel with minimal conversion costs. The alternative fuel could help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 80%.

Other low-emission fuels and technologies are being tested by members of the port community at the Port of Vancouver. Since 2019, Seaspan Ferries has tested the use of biodiesel on commercial ferry services, which led to all six of Seapan’s ferries being fueled with biodiesel to operate on their routes. Renewable diesel was also tried on a locomotive at Viterra’s Pacific Terminal grain facility, as well as on the ongoing retrofitting of electric/hydrogen-fuel-cell gantry cranes and shore hydroelectric power for idling ships at DP World’s Centerm container facility.