Methanol most readily available of alternative fuels – DNV
Methanol is more technologically mature and available than other alternative fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen, DNV says.
PHOTO: DNV's Maritime Forecast to 2050 launch event held in Hamburg today. DNV
Newbuild orders for large LNG-powered vessels continue to dominate, followed by LPG- and methanol-powered vessels, shipping classification society DNV says.
“By 2030 about 5% of the energy for shipping should come from carbon neutral fuels, and requires huge investments in onboard and offshore technologies and infrastructure,” DNV’s chief executive Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen said today at the organisation's Maritime Forecast to 2050 conference.
DNV claims that 5.5% of the total gross tonnage of ships operating today is compatible to operate on alternative fuels, while nearly a third of newbuilds can run on alternative fuels.
Regulations, access to investments and demand for environmentally friendly products from consumer are the three key drivers of shipping decarbonisation, DNV Maritime Environment Technology’s principle consultant Eirik Ovrum highlights.
Ovrum expects the transition to alternative fuels will be further propelled by a revised International Maritime Organisation (IMO) greenhouse gas emission (GHG) strategy.
The IMO’s 80th Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting is scheduled for June next year. Member states are expected to adopt a revised IMO’s GHG strategy and shortlist regulatory measures that will be mandated for shipping.
Ørbeck-Nilssen says regulations alone are unlikely to guarantee a transition to alternative fuels and that cross-industry partnership are needed to speed up the process. He argues that equal investments in onshore carbon neutral fuel production facilities are needed.
DNV expects methanol, ammonia and hydrogen propulsion technologies for ships to mature within 3-8 years.
Individual shipowners will use different solutions to decarbonise their fleets as “no one solution fixes all," BP Shipping’s Kathryn Upson said.
Upson thinks biofuel as drop-in fuel could play a major role to curb carbon dioxide emissions in near term. BP has conducted multiple trial runs with bio-VLSFO blends such as B20 (20% biofuel) and B50 (50% biofuel). Initial assessments show positive results in curbing carbon dioxide emissions and BP will look to bunker more biofuel on its time chartered vessels, Upson said.
Hapag-Lloyd’s chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen said it will bunker at least 100,000 mt/year of biofuels. He believes that carbon capture would play a bigger role as green fuels are likely to be in limited availability.
By Nithin Chandran
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