CLEO - a carbon-neutral fuel for the maritime sector

Marine cargo vessels emit nearly 3% of total greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of the LEO project is to develop sustainable and competitive lignin-based biofuels with sufficient supply-chain security and cost-efficiency to be used as a replacement of fossil-based oils in the marine sector.

A strong project consortium, led by A. P. Møller Maersk, will bring the technology from lab-scale research and development to pilot-scale production and testing. The technology will be expanded to handle different lignin types, and process sustainability will be analyzed and documented. Research will be undertaken on the physical properties of the fuels, to determine feasibility and barriers for the use of LEO fuels in place of residual oils, and to provide APMM with scientific data to support regulatory approval of LEO fuels.

The project results will demonstrate the technology at pilot-scale with a view to potential full post project commercialization of the process.

By 2030, an ambitious, but realistic goal, is to replace 5% of APMM's fossil oil consumption with LEO fuels, which will avoid the release of 1.55 MT fossil CO₂per year. In the long term, the LEO technology has the potential to replace the global maritime consumption of fossil oils.