FuelEU Maritime ‘not ambitious enough’ – T&E
A Transport & Environment (T&E) study found that the FuelEU Maritime regulation in its current version will leave the EU dependent on fossil fuels even after 2050, which contradicts Paris Agreement goals.
PHOTO: The European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France. Getty Images
“The review of the EU’s FuelEU Maritime also shows that EU shipping will fall behind where it needs to be in every decade up to and beyond 2050, meaning the sector will almost certainly overshoot the target of keeping global heating to 1.5 degrees (Celsius),” said T&E research.
The FuelEU Maritime was officially passed by European Parliament last week. According to the current text of the mandate, the European maritime sector will have to cut the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of the energy used onboard ships by 2% by 2025, 14.5% by 2035, 31% by 2040, and 80% by 2050, compared to 2020 levels.
T&E claimed it was "not ambitious enough" and argued that fossil fuels would still provide 75% of the "energy needs" of European shipping by the year 2040 even if the proposed regulation became law.
“The EU’s failure to get shipping to zero by 2050 puts the bloc’s entire Green Deal at risk. Europe’s policymakers must go bolder and revise the targets immediately following next year’s European elections,” said T&E's shipping analyst Alex Springer.
In addition, FuelEU Maritime will also require at least 2% of fuel use on board vessels to come from renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs), such as hydrogen-based zero-emission fuels.
In response, T&E claimed that “to ensure the sector decarbonises on time, the share of green e-fuels will need to be at least 18% and 85% in 2035 and 2040 respectively, alongside strong energy efficiency measures.”
By Konica Bhatt
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