The need for an alternative to fossil fuels is obvious, and thus far it’s only biofuel that offers the kind of quantities that are likely to be required. And according to Alberto Cabrera, director of Non-Container Cargo for the Port of Jacksonville in Florida, now’s the time to act. Jacksonville already exports up to 2m gallons of biofuel to Europe every month through the Port  Authority’s Talleyrand Marine Terminal, but it’s the tip of a potentially huge iceberg.

Mr Cabrera says: “The whole transportation industry should be looking at this stuff. Once everybody gets in tune with this, I think it will be a huge product and we’ll be in a prime position to handle it.”

His bullish stance is shared by John Kellogg of supplier World Energy Alternatives, who points out  the obvious: “The number one thing driving the use of biodiesel is that it’s a renewable fuel. We’re reaching a point where there just isn’t going to be any more petroleum. That alone, over time, predicts its success.”

Biodiesel can be made from a broad spectrum of sources that includes wheat, soyabeans and rapeseed.

Mr Cabrera points out that burgeoning growth in  ‘fuel-from-plants’ could be win-win for the ports, since manufacturers would need raw materials – and manufacturers need sites for refineries. “Ports like Jacksonville could be on the sending and receiving ends of the business,” he says.

It’s a nuance not lost elsewhere. The North Carolina State Ports Authority approved an option for a 15-year lease of a small parcel of land to manufacturer Kreido Wilmington. Port Authority chief executive Thomas J Edgar said this wasn’t the first approach the port had received. “Biodiesel is an evolving industry. We’re all aware of what we are paying at the pumps, and this is looked at as an alternative to gasoline and an alternative to foreign sources of oil.”

The same view is being taken in Egypt, where the  emerging port of Sokhna is being developed near  Cairo as a facility to add value to the goods passing through it.

Capt Ossama Al Sharif, president and chief executive, says: “The key to our growing success is the ‘Sokhna Port Platform’ – an integrated infrastructure and infostructure, incorporating cutting-edge technology and information management systems, plus our highly skilled team to run them.

“Another exciting venture is the biodiesel project. A refinery will be built, under the management of an experienced European refinery consultancy, at the port. Plantations of Jatropha trees are being created in the desert – from Suez to Aswan – growing the hundreds of thousands of plants necessary in order to provide seed oil for biodiesel, which will then be exported to Europe.” 

But this is not news to the Port of Vancouver, where they’re already using up to 7,000 gallons of biodiesel a year in their own vehicles, having taken advantage as a spin-off from its decision last spring to become the first port in America’s Northwest to handle bulk shipments of the fuel. Curtis Shuck, the Port of Vancouver’s director of facilities, said they were committed to this programme, and hoped they could encourage other ports to get involved.

The port expects to use about 10,000 gallons of biodiesel annually to fuel a fleet of 17 diesel-powered vehicles. Over the long term, it hopes to move to ethanol E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, for its petrol-powered autos.