Ferry Operator Charts a Course into the FOG
NY Waterway, which operates between the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal (located near the foot of Vesey Street) and various cities in New Jersey, has successfully completed a five-month trial run using renewable diesel fuel to power its fleet, and is moving ahead with plans to transition a significant portion of its fuel usage to this cleaner energy source.
“We are prioritizing the conversion of our fleet and fuel in order to minimize the impact on the environment and the communities we serve, without compromising on safety, speed or reliability,” said NY Waterway president Armand Pohan. “We’re fully committed to being a leader in the broader effort to make New York’s vital waterways even cleaner and greener for everyone.”
Renewable diesel fuel (also known as “biodiesel”) is derived from what City environmental regulators call “FOG” — fats, oils, and greases (along with other waste products) generated primarily by the food and restaurant industries, as well as hospitals, day care, and senior centers. Because these substances can coagulate in the sewer system and cause giant “fatbergs” that clog waste lines, pouring them down the drain has been illegal for decades. For most of that time, businesses that generated FOG had to pay specialized haulers to take it away. But in recent years, this slimy waste has alchemized into an environmental treasure.
With some refining, FOG materials can be rendered into fuel that is chemically indistinguishable from traditional diesel derived from petroleum. (Because it is, at the molecular level, functionally equivalent to fossil-based petroleum diesel, biodiesel is fully compatible with all diesel engines and requires no modification to the equipment.) But the benefits to the environment are considerable. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has found that emissions of greenhouse gases are cut by up to 74 percent, while other pollutants, such as particulate matter, are also dramatically reduced.
Biodiesel can also be a boon to operators: It burns more cleanly, which results in reduced engine maintenance and adds to service reliability. In recent years, cost has also become less of a barrier to adoption. According to the Department of Energy, biodiesel now costs only about four percent more than its traditional counterpart, and biodiesel blends are priced at a four percent discount to ordinary diesel.
NY Waterway began its renewable diesel trial on selected ferries in July and is on track to use 375,000 gallons over the next 12 months. This comes to roughly 20 percent of the fleet’s total fuel consumption. The company plans to increase that share to 50 percent usage in the near future.
This development comes against the backdrop of a renewable diesel renaissance in New York. In October, the City began testing renewable diesel on the Staten Island Ferry and the NYC Ferry systems, with the aim of transitioning both fleets entirely to the new fuel in 2025. And the administration of Mayor Eric Adams also recently announced that 100 percent of the City’s 12,500 heavy-duty and off-road vehicles have completed the year-long changeover to renewable diesel, preventing an estimated 162 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the air annually. This program consumes some 12 million gallons of renewable diesel each year, and now powers the City’s fleet of garbage trucks, ambulances, work trucks, emergency generators, and other equipment.
City Hall sees this transition as a milestone in the journey toward to ultimate goal of electrification. NY Waterway is on a similar trajectory, undertaking a fleet-wide hybrid/electrification program that will begin conversion of its ferries in the middle of next year. Once that evolution is complete, the need even for renewable diesel fuel about NY Waterway vessels appears likely to diminish considerably, although diesel propulsion will continue to serve as an emergency backup and redundant source of power, according to the company.