Page 7 - Annual Review 2021 full

Annual Review 2021

ammonia, green methanol, and advanced In the meanwhile there are a few promising future
biofuels. fuels that are currently in demonstration and
development stages and these are as follows:
ii. By 2030, at least 200 of these ships to primarily
use these fuels across the main deep sea iv. Battery
shipping routes. This will lay the foundation v. Hydrogen, and
for increasing numbers in the following years
towards a zero-emission shipping future. vi. Ammonia

The mission will focus on the entire value chain: the Key aspects that are taken into account while
ship, the fuel production, and the fuel infrastructure making a choice of a fuel are as follows: (a)
to drive the sector to a tipping point in its transition. Feedstocks and energy sources, (b) Production
The aim is to introduce practicable and viable technologies, (c) Onshore requirements, (d)
vessels that operate on zero-emission fuels to Onboard requirements, (d) Regulations, standards
the global fleet; scale up efficient production of and guidance, (e) Environmental impact, (f) Cost
zero-emission fuels; and establish global port overview and (g) Barriers and risks.
infrastructure to support vessels operating on zero-
emission fuels.” In this article Battery has not been considered since
it is not suitable for deep sea vessels with long
The minimum 50% cut in greenhouse gas hauls.
emissions by 2050 that the IMO had set for
international shipping in 2018 may no longer seem Annex to this document provides key points
an ambitious target and a realignment with IPCC’s regarding each of above fuels.
6th Assessment Report is necessary to the extent
that it is practically feasible. Marine Environment The reality is that shipowners have limited
Protection Committee (MEPC) is starting the agency in determining the speed of shipping’s
process of revising its Initial GHG reduction strategy decarbonisation trajectory. Getting the commercial
at MEPC 77 (November 2021) and is scheduled to strategy right may be a case of choosing between
publish its revised strategy by 2023. The revised the least bad possible options when it comes to
strategy will ensure international shipping industry alternative fuels.
stays aligned with 1.50C temperature goal of Paris
Agreement. Carbon Capture and Storage
Technology
Use of alternative fuels CO2 can be removed either from the exhaust or

2050 goal of 50% reduction in GHG emission and flue gas of power generation systems referred as
70% reduction in energy intensity compared to 2008 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) or directly
base line cannot be achieved using fossil fuels. from the atmosphere; the latter is often referred
to as Direct Air Capture (DAC). Both technologies
The shipping industry has to transit to low carbon are based on the same fundamental principles
and zero carbon fuels. but removing CO2 from the exhaust or flue gas
requires less energy because of its higher CO2
Developing zero carbon fuels has quickly become concentration compared to air. The separation of
shipping’s biggest priority from an industry-wide CO2 from any stream requires two steps, capture
perspective. And this process will not be driven and desorption/regeneration. During capture, the
by the shipping industry – this process implies a CO2 is absorbed into a solid or liquid by contacting
global energy transition where shipping will be one the CO2 source with the absorber. In the desorption/
of multiple industries vying for scalable and cost- regeneration step, CO2 is selectively desorbed from
competitive zero-carbon fuel solutions. the absorber, resulting in a flow of pure CO2 gas,
and the original capture absorber is regenerated for
There are a few transitory fuels that are more further use. Over the last 20 years many research
commercially available (although not necessarily groups have explored CCS technologies to
widely available today) and these are as follows: increase the efficiency of the capture, as well as to
reduce the volume and cost of the systems.
i. LNG
ii. Methanol, and This technology is being tested and will mature in
time for shipboard use to reduce CO2 emission
iii. Biofuels from ships while using fossil or low carbon fuels.

7