The Week in Alternative Fuels
Here are some of the key developments in alternative bunker fuels from the past week.
PHOTO: Tern Island arriving in the Port of Gothenburg last week. Terntank
A hybrid gas-electric powered tanker arrived in Gothenburg and plugged into the port’s recently rolled out shore power system. Gothenburg and the tanker’s operator Terntank claimed this was a world-first for a tanker.
But the week was mostly about calls on government regulators to steer decarbonisation efforts in certain directions.
Danish Shipping said the EU’s Emission Trading System is unfit for shipping as it doesn’t account for emissions throughout the entire well-to-wake supply chain in the same way that the FuelEU Maritime framework does.
Carbon capture should complement hydrogen production to scale net-zero fuels, but regulations and standards need to catch up with technological strides to achieve this, the American Bureau of Shipping argued.
A study by Transport & Environment came out strongly against LNG-powered tonnage, saying the shipping industry risks locking in future emissions. It urged EU regulators to instead incentivise uptake of zero-emission e-fuels through a 6% target for 2030.
The World Shipping Council voiced a more agnostic view on low- vs zero-emission fuels, maintaining that several truly renewable alternatives like green ammonia and hydrogen are still at a nascent stage of development. Their grey, carbon-emitting versions are needed to kickstart technological advancements and adoption in the short term, it said.
Here are the top five stories in alternative fuels this week:
First hybrid tanker arrives in Port of Gothenburg
The Port of Gothenburg has welcomed the arrival of Swedish tanker operator Terntank's new hybrid tanker and claims to be the first port connecting a tanker to shore power.
Tern Island, a 16,500 cbm hybrid tanker built by the Chinese Jingling Shipyard, can run on liquified biogas (LBG), LNG and electric power.
The hybrid electric system includes a battery pack, on-shore power supply, and a DC-Link system that claims to reduce auxiliary energy consumption during port operations by almost 99%, says Terntank.
The shore power supply is being jointly developed by Terntank and Port of Gothenburg, which claims to be the first port in the world that connects tankers to electricity.
Once the shore power project is complete it can reduce carbon emission from vessels in Port of Gothenburg by 1,800 mt per year, Terntank says.
Tern Island is the first in two 15,000 dwt vessels ordered from Jingling Shipyard. They are set to be operated by Finish North European Oil Trade (NEOT) in the Baltic Sea region.
Danish Shipping report finds flaws in EU ETS
Danish Shipping has flagged two key proposals in the EU’s ‘Fit for 55 package’, saying they are not complementary to each other and might ruin EU’s chances of cutting emissions by 55% by 2030.
Danish Shipping represents more than 95% of the Danish merchant shipping fleet.
The report highlights a flaw in the implementations of these key measures, wherein FuelEU Maritime accounts for all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the entire supply chain (well-to-wake), while ETS only looks at a portion of the GHG emission during the actual combustion (tank-to-wake).
This makes the calculation in the ETS system is much more limited, as it only sets a price on carbon dioxide emissions that are generated onboard a ship.
By comparison, FuelEU Maritime is more extensive and covers the overall climate footprint of extraction, refining, distribution, and finally total combustion.
"Both tools will reduce greenhouse gases, but if they are to function optimally and contribute to the most effective reduction, the two bills must be adjusted so that they fit better together," says Danish Shipping executive director Maria Skipper Schwenn.
Though both measures focus on driving the industry to low carbon fuels, the ETS should be applicable to all GHG emissions and cover the entire fuel value chain, recommends Danish Shipping.
Earlier this month, INTERCARGO joined The Union of Greek Shipowners (UGC) in embracing a proposed inclusion of commercial operators in the EU ETS, following concerns raised by the World Shipping Council (WSC) in January.
Government backing needed for hydrogen and carbon capture to succeed - ABS
Hydrogen and carbon capture are important elements to achieve a net-zero target, but the path to creating a value chain is steep and costly and requires government involvement, says the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS).
Even though hydrogen and carbon capture are different in nature they do have several crossovers in fuel technology. The road to shipping decarbonisation could be achieved by combining both in the value chain, says ABS.
As an example, carbon capture removes carbon dioxide from the air by using direct air capture technology which is still under the refinement stage.
Carbon captured through this technology can be combined with green hydrogen to produce net-zero synthetic fuels such as green LNG and green methanol, says ABS chairman and chief executive Christopher J. Wiernicki.
He stresses that regulations and standards need to catch up with technological advancements to ensure safety in the whole process.
The environmental impact of carbon value chains can be measured and verified through deploying carbon accounting standards and greenhouse gas inventory tools, Wiernicki goes on to say.
T&E doubts LNG could help towards EU emission targets
A study conducted by Transport & Environment (T&E) has found that LNG adoption could put a brake on efforts to reach EU net-zero emission target by 2050.
Around a quarter of Europe’s ships will be LNG-powered by 2030, as EU sustainability targets promote the use of LNG, says T&E.
Environmental groups such as T&E have strongly criticised the inclusion of LNG in FuelEU Maritime regulations as it might slow the process of adoption of zero emission fuels.
“We cannot afford to shift from one fossil fuel to another,” says T&E sustainable shipping officer Delphine Gozillon.
T&E recommends that the European Commission (EC) should mandate use of e-fuels.
This comes on the back of the EC's voiced views on LNG last year, when it put LNG forward as a necessary transitional fuel to decarbonise the EU maritime sector for as long as zero- and low-emission fuels are still not available at scale.
T&E foresees that without a mandate or incentives from the EC to switch to hydrogen based e-fuels, shipowners will rely on cheaper alternatives such as LNG and biofuels to comply with the proposed FuelEU Maritime greenhouse gas emission targets.
It thinks a 6% e-fuels target for the shipping industry by 2030 can create an entire supply chain network and boost demand for zero-emission fuels.
LNG can curb carbon dioxide emissions by about a quarter compared to conventional bunker fuels. But its methane emissions can be 36 times more potent as a greenhouse gas compared to carbon dioxide over a century, according to a World Bank study.
WSC urges IMO to lend flexibility to first green fuel movers
The World Shipping Council (WSC) has warned that first decarbonisation movers could be penalised and sets out six regulatory points to support International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction strategy.
WSC, which represents the international liner shipping industry, has voiced concerns of initial green fuel adopters. The liner group says that even with technological advances it is unlikely that zero carbon emission fuels would be produced with 100% renewable energy. And even if some fuels would be they would represent only a very limited share of the total.
The first shipping companies to consume low-emission fuels must be encouraged as they are investing in still nascent fuels and ship technologies.
There must be regulatory provisions that will not penalise first movers as the fuel is still in the initial stages and is yet to be made available using renewable energy production sources, recommends WSC.
The use of lower-carbon fuels produced through blue or grey processes - like hydrogen and ammonia - should also be incentivised as they are required in the short term, added WSC.
WSC identified six regulatory and economic pathways as follows:
- A global price on carbon combined with dependable and broad-based “buy down” programmes
- Transparent well-to-wake life cycle analysis of fuels
- Integrated development of global production and supply of zero GHG fuels
- A Green Corridors Programme
- New build standards
- Applied R&D for shipboard and shoreside systems
The 78th session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 78) is pencilled in for June, where member states will discuss how to take the shipping regulator's initial GHG strategy further.
