It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Tuesday, January 09, 2024
Green ammonia could decarbonize 60% of global shipping when offered at just 10 regional fuel ports
A study published today in IOP Publishing’s journal Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainabilityhas found that green ammonia could be used to fulfil the fuel demands of over 60% of global shipping by targeting just the top 10 regional fuel ports. Researchers at the University of Oxford looked at the production costs of ammonia which are similar to very low sulphur fuels, and concluded that the fuel could be a viable option to help decarbonise international shipping by 2050.
Around USD 2 trillion will be needed to transition to a green ammonia fuel supply chain by 2050, primarily to finance supply infrastructure. The study shows that the greatest investment need is in Australia, to supply the Asian markets, with large production clusters also predicted in Chile (to supply South America), California (to supply Western U.S.A.), North-West Africa (to meet European demand), and the southern Arabian Peninsula (to meet local demand and parts of south Asia).
90% of world’s physical goods trade is transported by ships which burn heavy fuel oil and emit toxic pollutants. This accounts for nearly 3% of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As a result of this, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) committed to decarbonising international shipping in 2018, aiming to halve GHG emissions by 2050. These targets have been recently revised to net zero emissions by 2050.
After investigating the viability of diesel vessel exhaust scrubbers, green ammonia, made by electrolysing water with renewable electricity, was proposed as an alternative fuel source to quickly decarbonise the shipping industry. However, historically there has been great uncertainty as to how and where to invest to create the necessary infrastructure to deliver an efficient, viable fuel supply chain.
René Bañares-Alcántara, Professor of Chemical Engineering in the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, says: “Shipping is one of the most challenging sectors to decarbonize because of the need for fuel with high energy density and the difficulty of coordinating different groups to produce, utilize and finance alternative (green) fuel supplies.”
To guide investors, the team at the University of Oxford developed a modelling framework to create viable scenarios for how to establish a global green ammonia fuel supply chain. The framework combines a fuel demand model, future trade scenarios and a spatial optimisation model for green ammonia production, storage, and transport, to find the best locations to meet future demand for shipping fuel.
Professor Bañares-Alcántara continues: “The implications of this work are striking. Under the proposed model, current dependence upon oil-producing nations would be replaced by a more regionalised industry; green ammonia will be produced near the equator in countries with abundant land and high solar potential then transported to regional centres of shipping fuel demand.”
ARTICLE TITLE
Optimal fuel supply of green ammonia to decarbonise global shipping
Facts are important. Even if the facts are uncomfortable or inconvenient. The industry is starting to understand that methanol is no silver bullet solution for shipping’s decarbonisation challenge contrary to the claims of certain operators.
When you burn methanol (CH3OH) in a marine engine, you emit CO2. The chemical composition of methanol is a fact. And this alleged ‘silver bullet’ is, in fact, a fossil fuel. Methanol adopters talk about green methanol, but grey methanol is all that is available on the market today. Its lifecycle or Well-to-Wake emissions are estimated at around 14% higher than VLSFO due to the energy needed to produce methanol.
The small amount of “green” methanol recently bunkered by an early mover was made from biomethane – not renewable hydrogen – using a valuable green fuel, biomethane, as a feedstock. This green methanol production process is wasteful, consuming a scarce green resource to make a more expensive marine fuel.
It takes six to seven times more renewable energy to turn biomethane into biomethanol compared with simply liquefying the same bio-methane to make bio-LNG (or liquefied biomethane). This green energy could be put to better use.
In the next 10 – 20 years before green hydrogen production really scales, green fuels and their associated feedstocks will be scarce. Taking biomethane, an existing green fuel, and using it as a feedstock in an inefficient process which loses 35 percent of the green energy to create bio-methanol makes no sense.
Further, if we look at the properties of fuels themselves, to carry the energy equivalent of one tonne of bio-LNG onboard, ship operators will need to bunker almost three tonnes of bio-methanol. In short, more space required for fuel means less capacity for cargo. The rationale of these demonstration projects escapes logic.
The industry needs to act now with solutions that make a difference today. The declaration by the CEOs of Maersk, CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, MSC, and Wallenius Wilhelmsen at COP28 emphasises the urgency of accelerating the transition to greener fuels and creating the regulatory conditions to achieve this. While regulation is vital, LNG coupled with other proven technologies can start shipping’s decarbonization journey now and continue to its zero emissions destination as greener forms of LNG such as bio-LNG and e-LNG become available at scale.
We cannot hope that there will be better answers decades down the road. University College London (UCL) estimates that every year of inaction this decade will add an extra $100 billion to the cost of shipping’s decarbonisation. This sum is dwarfed by the potential cost of climate-related damages to the wider society if shipping fails to cut emissions. GHG emissions are cumulative, and the longer we wait to reduce them the tougher, and more expensive, the decarbonization challenge will be.
When we discuss fuel choice today we must consider the full gamut of investments in vessels, engine technology, fuel production and availability, distribution, storage and supply. Other factors - such as safety for crew and port communities; energy density and onboard space requirements; and pilot fuel demands - are daunting and wide-ranging questions that need to be considered in an absence of reliable information. Clearly when there is so much uncertainly, the industry needs to create options but it should be wary of placing bets. LNG is a known quantity with a clear and proven pathway forward.
In terms of what we can and should be doing right now, improving energy utilization coupled with realistic and practical solutions must be considered first. The LNG Pathway, when used together with other proven technologies which exist today, adds to the benefits gained and results in real carbon savings, not theoretical future benefits that are dependent upon unproven technologies and significant future investments.
Peter Keller is the chairman of Sea-LNG.
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.
Hydrogen-Powered CTV Deploys in Germany as CMB.TECH Enhances Power System
Hydrocat 55 deploys as Germany's first hydrogen-powered CTV and looks to enhance the power technology (FRS Windcat)
Belgium’s Saverys family continues its efforts to lead the shipping industry into the future announcing that the technology from its company CMB.TECH was used to deploy Germany’s first hydrogen-powered dual-fuel crew transfer vessel. The ship expands on their first hydrogen application for a crew transfer vessel in Belgium in 2022 and will be the first of a fleet of six vessels under construction.
The new Hydrocat 55 was initially delivered in the spring of 2023 outfitted with a dual-fuel engine manufactured by MAN. It has been retrofitted by CMB.TECH with a hydrogen injection system. The company points out that no fundamental changes were required to the vessel’s main engine. The CTV can continue to use traditional fuel when hydrogen is not available or as a backup system.
The hydrogen system is supplied with 27 cylinders. The vessel has a total capacity of 207 kg of hydrogen. CMB.TECH previously explained the way its injection system works is mixing hydrogen and air which is then ignited in a mix with a small amount of diesel fuel in the combustion chamber of the cylinders. Depending on the engine's operating point, the company says only a very small amount of diesel fuel is needed.
Testing begins this month in a year-long trial that continues to improve the hydrogen-power technology (50Hertz/M. Vogel photo)
The new vessel uses the same design as the earlier Hydrocat 48 introduced in 2022 as the world’s first hydrogen dual-fuel CTV. The new vessel is 82 feet (25 meters) in length with a capacity to transport 24 passengers while operating with a crew of two to three.
The vessel was built for FRS Windcat Offshore Logistics, a partnership between FRS a Germany shipping company that operates high-speed catamarans and Windcat which is a leader in crew transfer services. CMB.TECH is an investor in FRS Windcat. The new vessel is part of a fleet of six ships currently operating in the German and Danish North Sea and Baltic under the German flag to support the offshore operations. The vessel will be operated for 50Hertz, a transmission system operator responsible for connecting the grid to the wind farms in the German sector of the Baltic.
The companies report that five more CTVs of this type are under construction. At the same time work is proceeding to further optimize the ship’s technology and further reduce CO2 emissions. Trials for the Hydrocat 55 are beginning this month and it will operate for a year with regular use of green hydrogen.
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