Norwegian Company Plans To Power Their Cruise Ships With Dead Fish (theguardian.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Waste fish parts will be used to power ships in a new initiative to use green energy for polluting cruise liners. The leftovers of fish processed for food and mixed with other organic waste will be used to generate biogas, which will then be liquefied and used in place of fossil fuels by the expedition cruise line Hurtigruten. Hurtigruten operates a fleet of 17 ships, and by 2021 aims to have converted at least six of its vessels to use biogas, liquefied natural gas -- a fossil fuel, but cleaner than many alternatives -- and large battery packs, capable of storing energy produced from renewable sources. Biogas can be generated from most forms of organic waste by speeding up and harnessing the natural decomposition process to capture the methane produced. Organic waste is produced by all food industries but is frequently disposed of in landfill, where it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions as it decomposes. Hurtigruten is currently building three new hybrid-powered cruise ships in Norway, to be delivered in the next three years.

Comments

Does this have any possiblity of working?

[Anonymous Coward]

Argh. Can somebody do the math of this? How much energy does it take to to power this vessel? How much energy can be produced per unit of time? How much energy to recovery the fish? What's the energy efficiency of recovery of energy?

Normally I'd do a Fermi problem, but it doesn't even seem worth it. PURE PROTEIN has an energy density of protein is a little under 17 MJ/kg. Energy density of diesel is 48 MJ/kg. Looks like a fermentation process in involved, so the protein energy to about 8 MJ/kg.

Meanwhile wood and coal have about the energy density of pure protein.

Given that we don't make much use of wood and coal anymore (entirely biochemical processes, so therefore "green", supposedly) I call BS on this. This is a lie constructed for PR purposes to get the dumb gullible "media" that can't figure out the Skripal story in the UK is horse manure, to give out free coverage.

Re:Better to use the dead fish as fertilizer

[Misagon]

Hurtigrutten is not only a luxury cruise line. It is a major means of long-range transport for a long stretch of northern Norway, which consists mostly of a jagged mountainous coastline. It is the most dependable large-scale transport for many communities, carrying both cargo and people to places where planes, trains and trucks don't go.

The dead fish is probably waste products from Norway's large fishing and fish farming industry. If you have ever eaten farmed salmon, it was probably from Norway.

The world does not have a fertiliser deficiency. It has a problem of fertiliser distribution.
Too much dung from meat production farms being dumped into the environment -- emitting greenhouse gases and getting into waterways killing the seas.