The Week in Alternative Fuels

A shipping industry survey conducted by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) revealed that the shipping industry cannot completely phase out fossil fuels overnight.

The ICS survey of 130 maritime leaders found that LNG and biofuels are expected to drive maritime decarbonisation over the next decade. Today’s most popular fuel type, heavy fuel oil, meanwhile, is not expected to be phased out for another 25 years. The ICS attributed this pessimistic outlook to a lack of port infrastructure and limited availability of hydrogen-based fuels like e-methanol and ammonia.

Even so, there are many ports around the world working to reduce the industry’s reliance on fossil fuels by making alternative fuels more accessible to shipowners. The Port of Singapore, one of the frontrunners in this effort, announced that it will establish a green shipping corridor between Australia and Singapore by 2025. Together, the two countries seek to ensure that green fuels are widely available in the ports covered by the green corridor.

Singapore’s port authority is also preparing standards and procedures for safe ammonia bunker operation and on training crew members to deal with emergencies. The port authority told ENGINE that “these are some of the preparations needed before ammonia bunkering can be carried out in the Port of Singapore.” Singapore is also expected to start facilitating methanol bunkering this year.

Meanwhile, Antwerp became the second major port in the ARA region to successfully bunker methanol, and the third in Europe as a whole. In the port’s first barge-to-ship bunkering, a methanol-fuelled tanker by Proman Stena Bulk was bunkered with 475 mt of methanol. The port plans to provide bunkering facilities for LNG, ammonia, hydrogen and methanol in the future, the Antwerp-Bruges Port Authority said.
Lithuania is planning to pioneer methanol bunkering in the Baltic region. Klaipeda State Seaport Authority has tied up with Swiss methanol producer Proman to develop methanol storage and bunkering facilities in Klaipeda, Lithuania’s largest port. Proman will also supply methanol to meet future bunker demand in the port.
Source: Engine