Major Mining Company BHP, Japanese Shipper NYK Deliver Biofuel Traced via Blockchain

Multinational metal and oil mining giant BHP has successfully tested blockchain in a conjoint experiment with Japanese shipping company NYK, shipping news magazine Dry Bulk reports Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Sustainable biofuel company GoodFuels provided its product for the experiment, while BLOC — a developer of blockchain applications for the maritime industry — built the decentralized ecosystem to trace it.

During the trial, the GoodFuels biofuel was delivered to the BHP-chartered and NYK-owned bulk carrier Frontier Sky, while carbon dioxide (CO2) savings were verified via a blockchain fuels assurance platform.

As explained by Dry Bulk, the sustainable biofuel used in the experiment serves as an alternative to traditional fossil-based marine gasoil, allowing for the reduction of CO2 greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to over 125,000 miles driven by a car.

According to the magazine, the joint delivery is an important step for BHP and NYK in terms of global decarbonization policy. Blockchain, in its turn, could help the industry to verify supply chains, making sure that only sustainable fuel is used during the shipping process and that the origin, emission reductions and fuel quality metrics are transparent and easy to trace.

As Cointelegraph has frequently reported before, blockchain has gained a significant level of adoption in the maritime industry, with major ports and shipping companies using the technology to support supply chains and trace shipments.

For instance, Israel’s largest cargo shipping company Zim recently opened its blockchain platform for electronic bills of lading to all clients in selected trades following an earlier successful trial.

Earlier in 2018, major United Kingdom port operator Associated British Ports signed an agreement with digital logistics operator Marine Transport International to develop a blockchain-driven platform for port logistics in order to reduce the amount of data processed by employees.

And in August 2018, IBM and Danish transport and logistics giant Maersk launched their global blockchain-enabled shipping solution involving 94 organizations.