Exploring the Plausible Impacts of Increasing Commercial Transportation of Liquid Bio-Fuel on the Tanker Market

Abstract: In the challenges of energy security, climate change and raising fossil fuel prices, the world is committed to finding solutions to address these problems. As a result, there have been considerable efforts aimed at sustainable development of bio-fuel to compliment fossil fuels. An example is European Union policy target to achieve a 10 % usage of liquid bio-fuel in the road transport sector by 2020. Due to such policy implementation, international liquid bio-fuel trade in the coming years is projected to grow considerably. This is as a result of trade imbalances among countries. The paper adopts open-ended questionnaire, to explore the likely impacts that the increasing commercial transportation of bio-ethanol and bio-diesel will have on the tanker market. The survey reveals that, the impact rests on factors within and outside the market mechanics of the shipping industry.