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The carbon footprint from our tours is mostly generated by life aboard our boats. It’s therefore essential that we work closely with all boat owners and captains to reduce emissions.

That is why we carried out a baseline measurement for the entire fleet in the winter of 2019/2020. We also started discussions with all ship owners. Our skippers have a great love for nature and have been active already for years to reduce impacts such as food waste. It was therefore great to see and hear how they’re working to make even more sustainable provisions. They’re looking for disposable plastic alternatives, use biodegradable cleaning products as much as possible and share ideas about the picnic lunch packaging.
While we offset our emissions, our goal also remains to reduce them. We gather feedback, share knowledge and find solutions to reduce our footprint. In the office waste is separated, we seek the eco-label when purchasing cleaning products, and are constantly checking how we can reduce paper consumption.
We’re also in discussion with the port authorities to make sustainable provisions so that waste from ships can be separated, and we’re pushing for sufficient on-shore power capacity so that ship generators can run less when moored.
We recommend serving a vegetarian menu twice a week, from 2024 this will be included in the Service Legal Agreement with the ship owners.
As we’re learning, it’s only by working together with our office team, tour leaders, ship crews and guests that we can really make change happen!

Biofuels

We are also currently exploring renewable diesel boat fuel options, in particular HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil), which is derived from used cooking (vegetable) oils. HVO burns more cleanly and can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90%. HVO can also be combined with regular diesel fuel. Most ship engines should be capable of operating on 30-50% HVO.

There will be a fund for ship owners to finance additional costs if they switch to HVO.
We also support our skippers with additional loans if they want to invest in e.g. batteries and solar panels to structurally reduce emissions.

We are working with HVO provider GoodFuels to support our fleet in trialing HVO fuel. This is a complex transition process that depends on many factors including the condition of existing boat engines and the location of fuel providers on our routes.

Back to www.boatbiketours.com/sustainability