Maritime container giant A.P. Moller - Maersk has bought a minority share in a California startup that turns common municipal trash into “green” transportation fuels such as bio-methanol, saying the move will help drive the nascent sector toward faster growth.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the company said its venture capital arm, Maersk Growth, now becomes the largest shareholder in Los Angeles-based WasteFuel. With the investment, Maersk’s VP and head of decarbonization, Morten Bo Christiansen, will join the board of WasteFuel.
The move comes just weeks after Maersk announced it would begin replacing its bunker fuel-burning ships with a fleet of eight methanol-powered versions beginning in the first quarter of 2024. But although that step is intended to “decarbonize” the company’s logistics operations, Maersk itself noted that global markets do not yet produce sufficient quantities of green fuel.
To address that shortfall, Maersk also said it had agreed to acquire enough carbon neutral methanol to power its first vessel beginning in 2023, through a deal with REintegrate, a subsidiary of the Danish renewable energy company European Energy.
The latest step moves further to help develop greater sources of green fuel. “Global supply chains can and must be decarbonized by 2050,” Maersk said in a release. “Collaboration and investments in innovative projects are one of the most important ways to reach a carbon neutral fuel value chain.”
WasteFuel will use the new funding to develop biorefineries, launching production in the Americas and in Manila, Philippines, of sustainable aviation fuel, green bio-methanol, and renewable natural gas. The company has already announced that one its first customers will be NetJets, the private jet company owned by Berkshire Hathaway.
“We know that sourcing an adequate amount of green fuel for our methanol fueled vessels will be very challenging, as it requires a significant production ramp up globally. Collaboration and partnerships are key to scaling the production and distribution of sustainable fuels, and we look forward to doing exactly that with WasteFuel; exploring potential future green solutions not just for our vessels, but also for Maersk aviation and trucking activities.”
