The shipping industry faces pressure to cut emissions and exit LNG, says an article on Global Trade Review.
Urge to reduce emissions
The shipping industry is under pressure to reduce emissions after environmental groups urged the European Commission to exclude liquefied natural gas (LNG) and biofuels as sustainable alternatives for vessels in an upcoming maritime fuel law in the European Green Deal.
In a letter dated May 12, 17 NGOs told the Commission to “explicitly exclude biofuels and fossil natural gas” from the scope of FuelEU Maritime, an initiative to increase the use of sustainable alternative fuels in European shipping and ports under the bloc’s Green Deal, which aims to make Europe climate neutral by 2050.
Instead, they call on the EU to focus on green electro-fuels produced from renewables such as hydrogen and direct air capture if the production of CO2 is required.
Causes greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
The group argues that biofuels should not be promoted in the shipping sector because they have sustainable feedstock limitations, while natural gas should be ruled out as it causes higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than diesel when considering upstream and on-board ship leakages of methane – a GHG far more potent than CO2.
“The EU’s current relevant legislation ignores methane slip and leakages. Certain stakeholders with vested interests are aiming to maintain it like that,” the letter reads. “This runs the risk of the EU investing billions of euros of public money in fossil natural gas infrastructure and ships, which are doomed to become stranded assets if the EU is to reach climate neutrality by 2050.”
To prevent this, the EU must end its support for maritime LNG and ensure that FuelEU Maritime covers all emissions, including methane, and is based on full life-cycle analysis, it adds.
Methane leakage is acknowledged by the European Parliament in an April document about the progress of FuelEU Maritime.
“When risks of leakages along its life-cycle are factored in, GHG emissions from LNG-run ships can be worse than those from ships running on conventional marine fuels,” it states.
However, it adds that given the availability and prices of alternatives, the fuel solution for a vast segment of international shipping for the immediate future remains a choice between a variety of fuel oils or LNG.
“Currently, LNG is the cleanest fossil fuel available at scale… running on LNG requires important investments both into the ship and into the port bunkering infrastructure. However, LNG, which is mostly methane, cannot much contribute to shipping’s decarbonization.”
Maritime transport
Maritime transport is responsible for nearly 3% of global GHG emissions, according to a 2020 report by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN agency responsible for regulating shipping.
In 2018, the IMO set out ambitions to reduce shipping’s GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared with a 2008 baseline. It also aims to cut the carbon intensity of international shipping by 40% by 2030.
A spokesperson for the IMO tells GTR: “All options are on the table in terms of future fuels. Any proposals for regulation in favor of one or the other would need to come to the IMO for discussion”.
“We know that low and zero-carbon fuels will be needed. A transition to a decarbonized future is required to meet our ambitions.”
They add that the IMO also has projects which are undertaking pilot studies into different fuels and auxiliary power, such as solar.
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Source: Global Trade Review
