Fossil Free Marine files patent for renewable fuel station

Swedish company Fossil Free Marine has applied for both patent and design protection for its newly developed unmanned floating marine fuel station.

With this solution, Fossil Free Marine says it is targeting the large global market of privately owned and commercial boats under 60 feet.

Measuring 24m long and 4.3m wide, the station is constructed from military composite for fully unmanned operations, 24/7/365, in compliance with regulations for land-based stations. It meets with stringent environmental safety rulings, e.g., for freshwater reservoirs, and is future-proofed for coming regulations for other sensitive marine environments.

“I am beyond thrilled that we have come to this point in our journey, that started almost ten years ago, when my co-founder Niklas Sjöö made the first designs for a completely new type of marine fuel station,” says Karl-Oskar Tjernström, co-founder and CEO of Fossil Free Marine. “During that time, the world has developed in a direction where sustainability and solutions that minimize climate impact have become increasingly important.

“The marine sector has meanwhile, with a few notable exceptions, almost stood still. Our breakthrough solution offers the marine sector a quantum leap into the 21st century, encompassing technology hereto only found in the latest land-based fuel distribution infrastructure. When rolled out at scale, our new marine fuel station bridges the gap between suppliers of modern renewable drop-in biofuels, and boaters wishing to dramatically reduce their climate impact. We can literally make boating sustainable. Right here. Right now.”

The first and second units, scheduled for production and installation in prime locations near central Stockholm during the second and third quarters of 2022, are partly funded by Swedish Government investment grants. The grant scheme, called KlimatKlivet (The Climate Leap), is for “incremental costs associated with supplying renewable fuels”, and Naturvårdsverket (the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) says that the initiative is “…among those that exhibit the highest sustainable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per invested krona (SEK)”.

Compared to existing technology, the company claims the new marine fuel station offers several distinct advantages as well as setting a new world standard in safe and environmentally friendly storage and distribution of liquid fuels, including modern drop-in biofuels.

The total internal volume is 60m³, distributed evenly across six separate tanks. The tanks are compatible with all types of liquid fuels, including more corrosive modern biofuels, and are protected from fuel theft, with all piping securely below deck beneath a single locked access hatch. The platform remains level even with varying tank volumes, ensuring safe operations as well as giving reassurance to users.

“Our new marine fuel station, years in the making, is designed based on a risk analysis, performed by one of the leading certification bodies within shipbuilding and marine safety, identifying all potential risks and hazards associated with existing marine stations,” adds Niklas Sjöö, co-founder of Fossil Free Marine. “This forms the basis for the design, where every single element is designed with a purpose – to set a whole new world standard in safe and environmentally friendly storage and distribution of fuel to boats.

“By using composite technology, originally from the military naval industry, we achieve numerous advantages, such as low weight, high internal volume and compatibility with any type of liquid fuels, like renewable diesel, biogasoline or even coming e-fuels, and it will deliver for at least another 50 years.”

Fossil Free Marine was founded in 2019 and is committed to enabling and facilitating sustainable boating on a global scale, through infrastructure solutions that allow financially viable, safe, and environmentally friendly distribution of renewable drop-in biofuels, and marine superchargers for fast charging of electric boats.