Proving to be more than just idle talk, the Zero-Emission Maritime Buyers’ Alliance (Zemba) has awarded its first shipment tender to Hapag-Lloyd, for shipments from Singapore to Rotterdam from next year.
Zemba members Amazon, Meta, Nike, Patagonia, Tchibo, Bauhaus, Brooks Running, DB Journey, Green Worldwide Shipping, New Balance, REI Co-op and Sport-Thieme will take part in the agreement, representing some 1bn teu in container-miles over the course of 2025 and 2026.
Pledged to use biomethane
Under the terms of the deal, Hapag-Lloyd has pledged to use biomethane, an LNG alternative, to decrease greenhouse gas emissions on the route by 90% – representing a total cut of some 82,000 tonnes of the CO2 emissions.
Like other bio-based fuels, biomethane is vulnerable to abuse and dishonesty from suppliers. Chemically, there is no difference between ‘bio’-methane, derived from residual feedstocks like used cooking oil, sewage gas, and other climate-neutral sources, methane from growing and processing virgin palm oil crops on deforested land or, for that matter, fossil methane from underground gas wells.
Nevertheless, this month Hapag-Lloyd’s Brussels Express carried out the ship-to-ship bunkering of what the company claimed was liquefied biomethane.
Zemba is expected to follow up with a second tender later in the year.
“Our collective procurement approach is working, and we look forward to continuing to push the boundaries of what’s technically and economically feasible in subsequent tenders, with a strong focus on maritime e-fuels,” Ms Irigoyen said.
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Source : Loadstar
