Shipping industry wants EU to focus on green marine fuels
Newly elected members of the European Parliament must prioritise scaling up the production of zero-emission potential bunker fuels, according to the World Shipping Council and Danish Shipping.
PHOTO: The European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France. Getty Images
The EU will hold elections to elect members of the European Parliament (MEPs) between 6-9 June. Ahead of the elections, shipping trade organisations World Shipping Council (WSC) and Danish Shipping released separate reports outlining key recommendations for the next five years to help elected members lay the groundwork to meet the EU's goal of net-zero shipping by 2050.
In separate reports, both the World Shipping Council and Danish Shipping recommended that the new MEPs focus on ensuring that the marine industry has broad access to green hydrogen-based marine fuels.
“The EU must also prioritise production of renewable marine fuels from green hydrogen to match the demand from dual-fuel ships coming into service before 2030,” the WSC report stressed. “Renewable fuels must scale with fleet investment to ensure maritime Green Deal goals are met and to achieve maritime decarbonisation by 2050,” it added.
The authors of the WSC report recommend that the dedicated allocation for shipping under the EU's Innovation Fund be promptly utilised to expedite the production of low- and zero-emission fuels and technologies to decarbonise shipping.
“EU ETS revenues can accelerate the uptake of green fuels by covering cost differences between conventional and alternative fuels, more clearly supporting production and supply of renewable fuels.,” the report explained.
The European Commission (EC) launched the Innovation Fund last year with a budget allocation of €4 billion ($4.26 billion). The funding will come from a portion of revenues generated from the EU ETS, according to the EC. The Innovation Fund has earmarked a budget of 20 million ETS allowances (EUAs) for maritime projects.
The EU's funding for green bunker fuels must cover all EU coastlines to maintain the competitiveness and sustainability of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) freight network, the report said.
Danish Shipping echoed WSC’s recommendation and urged upcoming MEPs to promote investments that will help increase the production of green hydrogen-based bunker fuels.
“Shipping is well on its way to becoming green. But it requires large amounts of green fuels, which do not exist today, to complete the green transition in shipping,” Anne H. Steffensen, chief executive of Danish Shipping said.
“This will require major investments across the entire value chain and production apparatus, and close cooperation between companies, authorities, and organizations. And here, it is crucial that the EU leads, and the European Parliament pushes,” she added.
By Konica Bhatt
Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online
