Trial at sea: A yacht powered by cooking oil tests biodiesel’s range

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00:00This is the second sweetest sound a fisherman can hear.

00:05The hum of a diesel engine ready to propel a yacht a hundred miles offshore to find

00:09some of the most elusive and powerful fish in the sea.

00:13Recently the owners of the MAC Attack put these engines to the test.

00:17They emptied the fuel tank of its petroleum diesel and filled it with RD-99, a biodiesel

00:23refined from cooking oil and animal fats.

00:28The results of the sea trial show that from idle to wide open throttle, the biodiesel's

00:33performance is on par with petroleum-based fuel.

00:37So we were really excited to see that.

00:38There was no fall off on any power anywhere, acceleration, maneuverability with the boat.

00:43They purchased the RD-99 for $5.57 a gallon.

00:47Petroleum diesel's nationwide average is $3.74.

00:50The marine industry hopes that nearly $2 gap will narrow to 20 cents.

00:55It's a plant-based fuel.

00:56So that CO2 had been captured from the environment.

00:58You're not adding to the total CO2 exposed into the environment.

01:02When you're burning fossil fuels, you're digging up fuel that's basically been sequestered

01:06for thousands of years.

01:07And when you're burning it, you're releasing new CO2 into the environment.

01:10So you're basically adding to the problem with traditional diesel fossil fuels where HVO,

01:16you're basically recycling the CO2.

01:17They're actually a much cleaner burning product, less particulate.

01:21So in theory, a lot of the preventative maintenance, things like filters and injectors and things

01:27like that, they actually should be better under these products than under traditional ultra-low

01:33sulfur diesel.

01:34The problem, in addition to cost, is supply.

01:36In 2024, the United States had a production capacity of about 2.1 billion barrels of biodiesel

01:43a year.

01:44That's for everyone, not just boats.

01:46The marine industry alone uses about 87 billion gallons of fuel annually.

01:50Viking Yachts, the top producer of sport fishing vessels, is working to help marinas and boat

01:56owners adopt this fuel.

01:58The industry is hoping for funding and subsidies from the federal government to increase production

02:03and bring down the price.

02:04With there being greater scrutiny and concern about emissions and things like that, we've

02:09been trying to find ways that we can address those issues, but also accommodate our operational

02:16needs.

02:17Like, we need to go far.

02:18We need to go fast.

02:19That's the basic principle of recreational boating.

02:21Mariners have the added challenge of making space and getting permits for the holding

02:24tanks.

02:26The Department of Energy sees these types of fuels as the predominant energy source for

02:30commercial fishing boats, ferries, and high-use non-commercial vessels by 2050.

02:35We would love to see Department of Energy, Transportation, collaboratively work together and find ways of

02:41ramping up refinery capacity, working on distribution, getting these fuel products out into areas like

02:47this, incentivizing fleets.

02:49Because once we start getting fleets like the UPSs, the Amazons, the FedExs of the world

02:55starting to use these products as well, and their gas and diesel trucks, you know, we will

03:00start to get the benefits of that distribution network.

03:01These boats are massive and require extraordinary power.

03:06This 90-foot Viking weighs 192,000 pounds.

03:10The boat is powered by twin 2,600-horsepower MTUs for a total of about 5,200 horsepower.

03:18And to feed these engines, they've got a 3,800-gallon gas tank.

03:23During the cruise offshore, she uses more than 150 gallons of fuel per hour.

03:28When they find the fish, they hear the sweetest sound, a sport fish that can weigh anywhere

03:36between 60 and over 1,000 pounds, pulling line from a reel with ease.

03:42Because of the sheer size of these vessels and the distance they travel, combustion engines

03:47are currently the only form of propulsion powerful enough to get them there and back again.

03:52The battery applications that would need to be used to power a source like this, to go

03:57100 miles offshore, would basically be the size of the engines at this point in time.

04:02And it's just not an option right now, and the weight and everything.

04:05And then you'd need to have the engines on top of that.

04:07Yeah, so right now it's just, you know, the technology just isn't there right now.

04:11We have performance criteria in terms of speed, range, that can only be met right now through

04:19these high-density liquid fuels.

04:22And that only comes with the internal combustion engine, at least for the next three decades.

04:27The RD-99 is what's called a drop-in.

04:30That means you open the gas cap, fill it up, and voila, the boat is more environmentally friendly.

04:35There's no new parts and no special maintenance.

04:38What we love about these drop-in sustainable marine fuels is that you can have an immediate

04:44effect on not only new boats, but the legacy fleet as well.

04:48So you could have a 30-year-old diesel-powered boat that's in a marina that's a smoker.

04:53You know, you start to bring in sustainable marine fuels, and that boat is almost instantly

04:58retrofitted.

05:00You at Vikings sell yachts that are five to ten million dollars, sometimes even more

05:05than that.

05:06Your owners can spend easily a million dollars a year maintaining them.

05:09So when people hear that, why should a company like yours and your clients get a government

05:15subsidy to help you with this?

05:16We all want to do our part to minimize our impact on that environment, because if that

05:22environment is degraded, if the resources aren't there, if the fish aren't well-managed

05:27and sustainable, then we're not going to be selling boats for people to go fishing.

05:31So I think inherently, you know, our industry has a very keen interest on working towards

05:37this.

05:38Inherently, we want to do our part to keep the environment healthy and sustainable for

05:41the long term.

05:42I'm Ray Bogan for Straight Arrow News.

05:45For more reporting, download the SAN app.

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