SK Group Intros Bio Heavy Oil

South Korea's SK Chemicals Co has introduced a project to use bio heavy oil as vessel fuel amid rising demand for cleaner energy sources.

The chemical and pharmaceutical unit under South Korean conglomerate SK Group has started safety and feasibility tests on bio heavy oil for powering large vessels like container ships, said a report in Pulse News.

Bio heavy oil is environmentally-friendly fuel for power generation, made from animal fat, leftover cooking oil, and by-products of bio-diesel processing.

According to the media outlet, SK Chemicals started bio heavy oil business in 2006.

The company is the first in Korea to supply bio heavy oil to local power plants including state-run Korea Midland Power Co. in 2014. It produced 80,000 kiloliters of heavy oil and earned 50 billion won ($43 million) in revenue from the business last year.