Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta strikes biofuel deal with shipowner Norden

DENMARK : Danish tanker and bulker owner Norden has clinched an agreement with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta to use sustainable maritime fuels in its supply chain.

The operator said the owner of Facebook has signed on for the Book & Claim scheme, which works by burning biofuel on Norden’s ships and then allocating the emissions reduction to a third-party customer.

Meta is a shipper of computing equipment and construction materials.

Norden chief operating officer Anne Jensen said: “We are proud to include Meta [on] our growing list of customers looking to decarbonise their maritime supply chains.

“Both Meta and Norden share a commitment to high standards and to the further development of the decarbonisation of maritime freight, as demonstrated by our involvement in the Book & Claim community’s governing board,” she added.

Norden said its solution offers a pathway for the decarbonisation of maritime freight, in an environment with limited geographic biofuels availability.

The owner uses the Smart Freight Centre’s voluntary market-based measure framework for logistics emissions accounting and reporting.

Its biofuel has an emissions-reduction potential of between 80% and 90%.

“Our Book & Claim solution allows customers of marine transportation across the globe to take advantage of emissions reductions from biofuels, even when biofuels are not physically available to be bunkered on a specific trading route or voyage,” Jensen added.

The solution is available to Norden’s direct customers and clients in other industries that are dependent on marine transportation.

Meta head of net-zero strategy Devon Lake said: “We have a goal to reach net-zero emissions across our value chain in 2030.

“To achieve that goal, we’re working to address emissions sources across the supply chain — including the upstream emissions associated with the maritime transportation of supply chain goods,” she added.