Letter from the Editor

EDITOR’S LETTER

The Stone Age didn’t come to an end because we ran out of stones. There are still plenty around and we still use them, it’s just that other, better materials became available for many of the earlier uses to which stones were put. Likewise, we still use bronze and iron today, although their respective ‘ages’ are long gone.

For millennia, wood provided the primary source of heat for humans, with various waxes and oils of plant or animal sources used for light. Then coal came along, a more effective heat source than wood but with a more narrow range of supply sources, necessitating the development of global supply chains (especially to supply naval vessels with steam coal). Oil proved even easier to extract and move and offered more options to be refined into yet more efficient products, but that did not mean that wood or coal were totally supplanted. Nor did natural gas supplant oil as the primary hydrocarbon, though once more global supply chains (pipeline and LNG) had to be developed.

It is clear we are now moving towards the end of the Age of Oil, as calls for the decarbonisation of the energy chain and industrial and transport activity grow ever louder. It is also becoming clear that the next Age will rely heavily on electricity produced from renewable sources. That is boiling down to the search for ‘green molecules’ as well as ways to move them economically from the point of production to the point of consumption – an unmistakeable signal that yet another supply chain will need to be built, along with its supporting infrastructure.

That probably means that a whole lot of money is going to have to be spent over the coming decades – but perhaps not as much as we might think. For a start, the points of consumption are mainly going to be in the same parts of the world where oil and gas are currently imported in large quantities, such as Europe, North America, China and other Asian countries – basically, anywhere with a large population and significant levels of industrial activity. Import facilities already exist and will merely need to be adapted to handle the new carriers of green molecules.

Some of the likely production points and export locations will also be familiar from the oil and gas business, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, where sunshine is reliable and heavy investment is already underway in photovoltaic solar farms. Norway has hydroelectric power aplenty, as well as wind, to eventually replace its natural gas and oil.

More clarity is also coming forward on the nature of the expected carriers of green molecules, which centre increasingly on hydrogen; this is less easy to move at scale than oil and gas so ammonia, as well as LOHC techniques, seem to be the preferred carriers. That is good news for existing gas ship operators, as there is already an established trade, and for storage terminal operators, many of which are already adept at handling ammonia.

As we report in this month’s issue, there are plenty of projects inching forward and plenty of operators keen to be included; the world will still need oil in the future, if only for petrochemical production, but an increasing audience is ready to listen to alternative fuel sources.

Peter Mackay

CONTENTS

VOLUME 44 • NUMBER 01

UP FRONT Letter from the Editor

30 Years Ago Learning by Training 01

04

05

STORAGE TERMINALS Sum of the ports Terminals invest for the future

Where it’s needed ACT builds in Abu Dhabi

Joining forces Koole seals Alkion deal 06

10

12

Pilot-free pilot Examining the potential of drones 13 First to market Hamburg aims for ammonia hub 14 News bulletin – storage terminals 16

TANKS & LOGISTICS Agent of change Sahreej sees benefits of SQAS Track to suit Bertschi expands in Terneuzen 18

20 Bombay mix Rhenus opens in India 22

Wagons roll Dachser looks at driver behaviour 24 News bulletin – tanks and logistics 26

CONFERENCES Conference diary 29

SAFETY Incident Log 30

Hold your fire ICHCA warns on AN fires on ships 32 Clear the decks Alert on vehicle fires aboard ship 33

REGULATIONS On the road again WP15 gets to work on next ADR Maple leaf rag Major update for Canada Aussie rules Australia revises its Code 34

40

42 Back to reality Stolt questions CII viability News bulletin – regulations

BACK PAGE Not otherwise specified

NEXT MONTH Chemical tanker market update UN Model Regulation changes US rule changes ahead Labelling and compliance

Managing Editor Peter Mackay, dgsa Email: peter.mackay@chemicalwatch.com Tel: +44 (0) 7769 685 085

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