Lack of feedstocks could curb biofuel usage in shipping - DNV

The tight availability of sustainable feedstocks could push biofuel prices higher and possibly make it less competitive against other low-carbon fuels such as e-methanol and e-ammonia.

PHOTO: DNV's Maritime Forecast to 2050 event held in Hamburg earlier this month. DNV

Shipping classification society DNV argues that a proper framework and standards for calculating well-to-wake emissions are needed to prevent shipping emissions to shift to other sectors. It says biofuel produced with non-sustainable feedstocks could lead to higher emissions from onshore land use.

Massive investments are needed into both low- and zero-emission newbuild vessels and offshore fuel production plants in order to decarbonise the shipping industry by 2050, DNV Maritime Environment Technology’s principal consultant Eirik Ovrum said at a webinar organised by DNV today.

During the initial transition period, about $8-28 billion/year of investment is needed in newbuilds, while offshore facilities would require a heftier investment sum of $30-90 billion/year, DNV forecasts.

Ovrum argues that uptake of carbon-neutral marine fuels should hit 40% of the fuel mix by the mid-2030s to achieve the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) target of halving greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

The IMO is due to approve a revised, and possibly more ambitious, GHG strategy next summer.

Ovrum thinks sustainable biomass could become a preferred alternative fuel if sufficient feedstock is made available. It could then be converted to more sustainable drop-in fuels such as bio-MGO, bio-LNG and bio-methanol.

Several shipping firms are exploring biofuels to lower near-term carbon emissions as these fuels can be blended with high-energy conventional fossil fuels and require minimal modifications to vessels before then can be consumed.

By Nithin Chandran

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