Green lobby group Transport & Environment (T&E) has criticised the European Commission’s (EC) approach to promoting alternative bunker fuels to shipping, reports Ship&Bunker.
LNG as a transitional fuel
Sticking with the narrative that liquefied natural gas (LNG) works as a transitional fuel could increase the amount of methane going into the atmosphere, it said. Current EC proposals give the green light to LNG use “well into the 2040s“.
According to T&E’s own study, “LNG will make up 23% of the total energy used in EU shipping by 2030, up from 6% today“.
e-fuels to meet EU targets
“Ships will have little or no incentive to switch to more sustainable alternatives such as green hydrogen or hydrogen-based fuels known as ‘e-fuels’,” the green lobby argued. “Currently there is no mandate for e-fuels meaning shipowners can rely on fossil LNG and dubious biofuels to meet EU targets into the 2040s,” it added.
The organisation favours a different approach. A mandated 6% target for shipping e-fuels by 2030 would be “the most straightforward way to ensure supply and demand for sustainable fuels, while providing business predictability to shipowners and fuel suppliers“.
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Source: Ship&Bunker
