Green Fuels Research has been awarded grant funding by Innovate UK to conduct a feasibility study into the conversion of pangasius (catfish) mortalities and processing waste into a sustainable biofuel for distributed power generation.
The project, in partnership with the School of Chemical Engineering, Hà Nội University of Science and Technology (HUST), will address all three areas of the energy trilemma (affordable and available, green and clean, secure and reliable) through design of a process and facility for converting fishery waste to sustainable, low cost, net zero carbon diesel generator fuel which can be used within existing infrastructure to provide secure energy supply to fish farms.
Although grid connectivity in Vietnam is relatively high, the country’s aquaculture sector, with farms frequently located in remote areas, is heavily reliant on fossil diesel generators.
Among the project’s expected outcomes will be assembly of a demonstration plant, development of a commercially viable business plan and value chain for future commercialisation and opportunities for industry and community engagement.
As feedstock is the life blood of any biofuels operation, we are confident that this project can have a dramatic impact on decarbonisation of power generation in the region
A further outcome will be a detailed life-cycle analysis to demonstrate clearly the overall CO2eq savings in comparison with the current state-of-the-art.
Launching the project, the Green Fuels group’s Chief Strategy Officer Paul Hilditch said. “We are genuinely excited that PoWGEN will focus on Vietnam, the world’s fourth largest aquaculture producer at 6.4 million tonnes per annum.
“The sector there has grown exponentially at 20% annually over the last decade. Based on a 20% average fish mortality rate, some 400,000 tonnes of energy-rich pangasius waste material is potentially available every year, itself increasing at an annual rate of 20%.
“As feedstock is the life blood of any biofuels operation, we are confident that this project can have a dramatic impact on decarbonisation of power generation in the region.”
Founded in 2003, Green Fuels has supplied biofuel equipment with aggregate capacity equating to $500bn in fuel sales to customers in more than 80 countries. Green Fuels was awarded a Royal Warrant of Appointment to HRH the Prince of Wales in 2013 and has participated in many pioneering events in its field including the first 100% biofuel-powered jet flight and the first 100% biofuel-powered train. Green Fuels is headquartered in Gloucestershire, UK, with offices in London, Mumbai, Muscat and Rio de Janeiro.