Falmouth Harbour launches lower-carbon fuel for boat owners

Fill up at the Boat Park in Falmouth now and there’s a fuel on offer that looks, smells and burns almost exactly like diesel, but never came out of the ground.

📷Credit: Chad Whitehouse/Falmouth Harbour

A year of testing before the wider rollout

Falmouth Harbour has spent the past year running Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, or HVO, through its own fleet of workboats. Having put the fuel through its paces, the harbour has now become one of the first UK coastal harbours to sell it on to leisure and commercial boat owners too, offering a renewable alternative to conventional marine diesel from its own pumps.

The fuel is available from a new refuelling facility at the Boat Park and Watersports Centre. The £50,000, 6,500 litre setup was built with 50% match-funding from Cornwall Council’s Growth Hub Grants Programme, backed by the Government’s Low Carbon Levelling Up Fund, which is helping push practical decarbonisation across the maritime sector.

📷Credit: Chad Whitehouse/Falmouth Harbour

What HVO actually is, and who can use it

HVO is a renewable paraffinic diesel made from sustainable waste-derived feedstocks. It isn’t biodiesel, and it’s manufactured to the EN 15940 standard rather than the FAME standard biodiesel uses. For engines approved to that standard, it can cut carbon emissions by 50 to 90 per cent compared with fossil diesel, while offering cleaner combustion, better storage stability, a lower risk of diesel bug and less of the usual diesel smell. Boat owners need to check with their engine manufacturer that their engine is approved before switching.

Falmouth Harbour’s Commercial Operations Manager Tristan Rowe has already made the switch on his own boat, a Crabber 24 Mk I with a Beta 14 engine.

“If you have a compatible boat and want to be greener it’s a no brainer to switch to HVO as it’s such a similar product,” he said.

“Also if you have been affected by a fuel bug issue at sea, HVO will give great piece of mind, that was a big factor in my choice to convert.

“As one of the first UK coastal harbours to retail HVO, we’re helping establish the market for lower-carbon marine fuels, which gives customers a practical choice to reduce their environmental impact at a considered and reasonable cost.”

📷Credit: Chad Whitehouse/Falmouth Harbour

Tested on the harbour’s own new pilot boat

The fuel has already been run across Falmouth Harbour’s own work fleet, including the new £1.6 million Pilot Boat Atlantic, designed and built by Holyhead Marine in North Wales to be one of the cleanest, safest and most fuel-efficient pilot boats in the UK.

Falmouth Harbour Chief Executive Miles Carden said harbours have a role to play in the wider shift.

“Harbours have a vital role to play in supporting the transition to lower-carbon maritime operations,” he said. “Whilst there is no single solution to decarbonisation, HVO provides a practical option for many existing vessels to reduce their environmental impact without major modifications or replacing engines.

“This investment, made possible through the Government’s Low Carbon Levelling Up Fund, shows how relatively modest public funding can unlock practical improvements that benefit boat owners, commercial operators and the wider environment.”

The fuel comes from Mitchell & Webber, whose director Tristan Weedon said the fuel’s chemical structure is almost identical to regular diesel, which it can replace in many marine engines.

“We are delighted to work with Falmouth Harbour to improve access to renewable marine fuels in Cornwall,” he said. “HVO is a proven renewable diesel that enables vessels to reduce their lifecycle carbon footprint immediately while continuing to operate efficiently and reliably.

“We hope this marks another important step in supporting the maritime sector’s transition to lower-carbon operations using existing infrastructure.”

📷Credit: Chad Whitehouse/Falmouth Harbour

Booking a fill-up

HVO is available by appointment. Fuel cans can be filled between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday and on summer weekends, while direct delivery to vessels runs an hour either side of high tide from the boat park quay wall or pontoon, depending on the size and type of vessel. Boat owners can book a delivery that suits by calling the team on 01326 310999 or dropping into the boat park office.

Falmouth Harbour has put together guidance covering compatibility, refuelling and environmental good practice for anyone considering the switch. It’s also reminding customers that although HVO tends to have less of the usual diesel smell, it still needs handling with care. Spills and overflowing tank breathers should be visually monitored during refuelling, because a lower odour doesn’t mean a lower risk of pollution.

More on this and the harbour’s other environmental work is available at falmouthharbour.co.uk, or in person at the Leisure Team’s Marine Hub on Grove Place slipway.

📷Credit: Chad Whitehouse/Falmouth Harbour

📷Credit: Chad Whitehouse/Falmouth Harbour

📷Credit: Chad Whitehouse/Falmouth Harbour

📷Credit: Chad Whitehouse/Falmouth Harbour