The Week in Alternative Fuels 26 January 2024
EU Parliament calls for a green port roadmap
China debuts its first methanol bunkering vessel
Italian duo plans to run ammonia bunker vessel on ammonia
Shipping should adopt zero-emission fuels by 2030 – GMF
PHOTO: 3D image of the Port of Amsterdam's BioPark, a planned facility designed specifically for green fuel production. Port of Amsterdam
The European Parliament adopted the "Berendsen report", which pushed for the adoption of an EU-wide green port strategy. The report advises the European Commission to first develop green bunker infrastructure in ports identified to have access to alternative fuels and shore power. It also urges the EU to speed up investments in hydrogen import infrastructure to achieve its self-imposed green hydrogen import goal of 10 million mt/year by 2030.
A methanol bunkering vessel owned by China's Shanghai SIPG Energy Services started operating in Shanghai Port this week. The vessel can carry out ship-to-ship methanol bunker operations with container ships during loading and unloading of containers. It can also transport methanol as cargo.
Italian gas firm Gas and Heat and classification society RINA will develop a cargo and fuel gas system for ammonia bunkering vessel that will be powered by ammonia. Gas and Heat will work on the basic design of the system, while RINA will ensure that the design complies with regulations. “We do believe that a fleet of innovative bunker vessels, as part of the sea logistics, will boost the use of alternative fuels,” Giuseppe Zagaria, marine Italy technical director at RINA said.
The IMO's mid-term measures must incentivise shipping to gradually move towards zero-emission fuels within this decade in order to achieve a sector-wide transition by 2040, a report by Global Maritime Forum’s Getting to Zero Coalition said. The authors argue that the IMO's mid-term measures can be strengthened through well-to-wake GHG intensity limits (emissions per unit of energy used) through a GHG fuel standard, and GHG pricing combined with revenue disbursement.
HutanBio, a UK-based biotechnology firm, plans to develop third-generation biofuels derived from cultivated algae for bunkering. The company claims that ships with internal combustion engines can run on algae-based biofuels without needing any modifications. The company has not given a timeline for when algae-based biofuels will become available for commercial supply.
By Konica Bhatt
Here is our selection of the top five alternative fuels stories from this week:
European Parliament calls for scaling green port infrastructure
China’s first methanol bunkering vessel starts operations
Gas and Heat, RINA to develop ammonia fuel system for bunker vessel
IMO must encourage shipping to adopt zero-emission fuels within this decade – GMF
