GCMD develops one-hour biofuel fingerprinting technique

In New York, MarineLink reports the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonization unveiled a groundbreaking method that identifies the feedstock origins of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters biofuels within an hour, offering a solution to rising fraud concerns in marine fuel supply chains.

This technique creates a unique “fingerprint” for FAME biofuels based on their fatty acid profiles, which remain traceable even after feedstock processing. By comparing these fingerprints to a database of known profiles, the method can distinguish biofuels made from sustainable recycled oils from those potentially mislabeled and derived from virgin oils.

Biofuels like FAME are a growing tool in reducing shipping industry greenhouse gas emissions, but mislabeling has raised doubts about sustainability claims. GCMD’s new approach complements existing certification schemes, which rely on audits but lack real-time fraud detection capabilities.

Developed in partnership with VPS and based on EN 14103 standards, the fingerprinting method uses gas chromatography and flame-ionization detection—common tools in fuel testing labs—and matches the speed of current marine fuel quality tests.

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