Alternative marine fuels are making headway in the shipping sector but as with all things new, they come at a cost.
Put simply, a ship operator using the greenest fuels will have to pay more, reports Ship&Bunker.
Alternative fuels is on the agenda
Under the European Union’s bunker fuel directive FuelEU Maritime, getting to a level playing field for the various alternative fuels is on the agenda.
But according to environmental lobbyist T&E, the directive is in danger of not going far enough.
Unless due attention is paid to the pricing of alternative marine fuels, the greenest (and most expensive) of those fuels will not get a fair chance to get established in the market.
And now is a good time to put that right, according to Delphine Gozillon who handles shipping at T&E.
Gozillon knows that green fuels in the early stage of development can be the most expensive. But this price can be diluted by giving ship operators an incentive to go greener.
FuelEU Maritime directive
FuelEU Maritime proposes a multiplier to level the playing field where the higher price of the greenest fuel can benefit the ship operator by multiplying its impact on emissions targets.
Delphine Gozillon, shipping officer at T&E said, “Think of it as a discount on using the most expensive and greenest fuel.”
“If the e-fuel is zero-emission lifecycle, then the multiplier divides the GHG reduction effort needed to comply with the GHG target.”
So the higher the multiplier, the less of a particular green fuel required to meet the target.
GHG reduction target
By way of illustration, if compliance is assumed to apply across a fleet, one ship using e-ammonia with a multiplier of five could meet the GHG reduction target whereas without the multiplier, five ships using the fuel would be needed.
As it stands, the council of ministers and the European parliament’s transport committee are in favour of a multiplier of two. T&E favours a higher number — five — which it says is more realistic given the cost of greenest fuels.
The European parliament is to vote on the FuelEU Maritime directive this month.
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Source: Ship&Bunker
