The Green Maritime Methanol consortium reviews the possibilities for renewable Methanol as a maritime transport fuel. The consortium has recently extended its membership with the addition of two leading shipowners; Arklow Shipping and DEME, reports Safety4sea.
Green Maritime Methanol consortium
Specifically, Arklow Shipping has been operating a variety of shortsea and coastal vessels. In the meantime, DEME is leading in the field of dredging, marine engineering and environmental remediation.
Green Maritime Methanol began in January 2019.
Jorrit Harmsen of TNO comments commented on the steps of the project, according to which
- As a first step in the project, an overview was made of previous research on application of methanol in maritime shipping, including technical application, supply chain development and a comparison to other possible future fuels.
- As a second step, an analysis was made on the impact of the introduction of methanol on the operational profiles of ships in different market segments, based on input provided by ship owners in the consortium.
- Furthermore, an analysis was made on the potential market for methanol from the port point of view.
Moreover, Professor Robert van de Ketterij of Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA) will begin, along with his team, a series of trials on a spark ignited engine in January 2020; Also, the first compression ignition tests are to be conducted in March 2020.
Whereas, following the installation of a new internal combustion engine in the laboratory of NLDA in Den Helder, the partners will implement a last series of experiments, in late 2020 and early 2021.
Methanol based ship designs
The results and information that will be concluded from the work packages will be provided to a number of methanol-based ship designs, and their technical, economic and logistical feasibility will be evaluated.
Erwin Zomer of TNO explains the work executed in work package 4. “First we analyse the operational aspects of using methanol as a marine fuel, including storage capacity, range, bunker volume, bunker frequency, bunker mode, safety aspects, but also fuel and retrofitting cost.”
He said, “These will be aligned with analysis of shipping segments and routes to identify promising market segments. Second, we dive deeper into bunkering strategies, – concepts and -procedures.”
He added, “Finally, we analyse the methanol supply chain, including an upstream analysis of the different feedstocks: fossil, biomass and power-to-fuel. We also assess production and storage capacity in relation to demand for maritime fuel use.”
Green Deal for Shipping
As from 2020 the information of these work packages will be included in various methanol based ship designs and their technical, economic and logistical feasibility will be evaluated.
Support for Green Maritime Methanol was also received in the ‘Green Deal for Shipping, Inland Navigation and Ports’ signed in June 2019 with the aim of making ocean, coastal and inland shipping and port more sustainable.
Signatories in the Netherlands including national and regional governments, port authorities, maritime sector organisations, shippers, transport companies, banks and research institutes have joined forces to promote sustainability in the shipping sectors.
GHG emission reduction
Stakeholders in this Green Deal include the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and the Ministry of Defence, backing measures to substantially reduce pollution and Greenhouse Gas emissions in shipping and ports.
The Green Maritime Methanol consortium includes leading research institutes
- TNO,
- TU Delft,
- Marin and
- NLDA
It is supported by TKI Maritime and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.
The project is supported by TKI Maritiem and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.
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Source: Safety4sea
