ABS looks at the future for fuels

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MARINE FUEL • LOW-SULPHUR FUELS ARE JUST A STEP ON THE ROAD TO A DECARBONISED SHIPPING INDUSTRY. THERE ARE FORKS IN THE ROAD AHEAD, AS ABS HAS RECENTLY INVESTIGATED

SHIPOWNERS HAVE BEEN scrambling to accommodate the sometimes conflicting expectations of regulators and their charterers as they seek to find practical ways of reducing emissions from maritime activities. While the ‘IMO 2020’ rule, imposed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as a way to reduce sulphur oxide emissions from ships’ exhausts, has pointed the way to the use of low-sulphur fuels or exhaust scrubbers, in the longer term cleaner solutions will be demanded.

Much has been made of the potential for LNG to provide a low-carbon alternative, which has led to some very expensive newbuilds and the development of a worldwide network of LNG bunkering stations. LPG and methanol are other low-carbon fuels, but largely restricted so far to LPG and methanol carriers – as, indeed, had LNG been restricted to LNG carriers until recently.

Looking further ahead, though, owners and regulators will be looking to eliminate carbon-based fuels insofar as is possible. This will necessitate the use of another set of fuels, likely to involve the use of electricity generated from renewable sources, either directly via power packs or indirectly through the use of liquid fuels generated through electrolysis. The fact that some of these ‘clean’ future ships will be carrying ‘dirty’ oils for charterers is an irony that has not been overlooked.

OPTIONS AVAILABLE In order to gauge the mood of the shipping industry, classification society ABS undertook a survey of shipowners and operators that took part in a recent webinar, Pathways to Sustainable Shipping. Rather ominously, that survey revealed that nearly two-thirds of owners currently have no decarbonisation strategy in place.

However, when asked which fuel is most likely to be adopted in the near term, 70 per cent of those surveyed plumped for fuels in the ‘light gas’ segment, including LNG in the short term and hydrogen as a future solution.

“It is clear that the industry views both hydrogen and ammonia as the long-term destination but sees LNG as having a big role to play in addressing the regulatory challenge immediately in front of us,” says Georgios Plevrakis, global sustainability director at ABS. “These results are in line with the findings in our recently released Low Carbon Shipping Outlook. Based on the fuel pathways that we have identified that can shape the future of marine propulsion, hydrogen and ammonia are solutions that are expected to contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions in the long term. LNG, as the most mature of the alternative fuel solutions, can pave the way to a less carbon-intensive maritime industry. We are working through our network of Sustainability Centers with global clients to define solutions to meet regulatory and market demands related to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction.”

Indeed, some 80 per cent of industry leaders surveyed separately by ABS agreed that GHG ratings are currently an important factor in decision-making, and nearly half said they had already begun implementing options for improvements.

“As shipowners and operators look to improve their environmental ratings to both maintain and attract potential charters, they face complex decisions on how best to identify, report and reduce GHG emissions,” says Lefteris Karaminas, global sustainability manager at ABS. “A key takeaway is that owners taking advantage of accelerated GHG rating improvement options like the non-permanent Engine Power Limitation (EPL) are finding the benefits only temporary, as other vessels in the peer group take on improvements or new, more efficient vessels enter the peer group. It will be necessary to consider alternative options, including combinations, in order to remain competitive and increase their ratings in the long term.” An extensive report, Pathways to Sustainable Shipping, is available on the ABS website, www.eagle.org.

ELECTRIC VESSELS ARE ALREADY AT WORK,