Shipping Majors Look Methanol As the Clean Fuel of the Future

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Two major Chinese shipping firms now see methanol as their main alternative fuel choice for the future, reports Ship & Bunker.

Methanol: Main clean fuel in the future

Xie Chunlin, chairman of China Merchants Energy Shipping, and Gu Jinsong, chairman of COSCO Shipping Bulk, met this week to discuss their two firms’ cooperation and views on decarbonisation.

During the meeting the two executives ‘proposed to make methanol as the main clean fuel in the future‘, according to the report.

A vote of confidence on this scale from China could come as a major boost to the prospects of the nascent methanol bunkering industry.

Green methanol vs LNG

Container shipping firm AP Moller-Maersk has said its first carbon-neutral ships will run on methanol, with the first vessel due for delivery in the middle of next year, and CMA CGM has also recently ordered methanol-fuelled tonnage.

Significant further work to build up the scale of green methanol production and delivery infrastructure will be needed before methanol can become a mainstream alternative fuel choice at the same scale as LNG.

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Source: Ship&Bunker