Green Methanol: Starting the Route to Maritime Carbon Neutrality Now
By Felix Jung
Prior to starting his internship at Liquid Wind, Felix submitted the following essay to the Global Maritime Forum, as part of the Future Maritime Leaders Essay Competition. A knowledgeable engineer, passionate about sustainability, Felix presents green methanol as a proven and readily available solution to rapidly reduce carbon emissions from the maritime industry.
Felix is currently completing a European M.Sc. in Sustainable Energy System Management. As part of his graduation project he will conduct a Life Cycle Analysis of Liquid Wind's green methanol production. This work will be really valuable to scientifically quantify and substantiate the climate benefits and carbon reduction impact of eMethanol and identify potential improvements.
The post-covid-19 world demands sustainable solutions that work sooner rather than later. Climate change and environmental degradation are a global threat, especially for vulnerable communities. The newly announced European Green Deal promises a climate neutral Europe by 2050, and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set the ambitious target of reducing emissions by at least 50% compared to 2008. Much research and development is being done to reach these goals and introduce alternative fuels like hydrogen to the transport sector, but they are not readily available and it is questionable if sufficient energy densities can be reached for freight shipping. But there is no time to lose and clean alternatives are already available. Methanol is a proven fuel and is compatible with existing infrastructure, which can be produced from renewable energy sources and captured CO2. Green methanol can kick start the much needed reduction of shipping’s carbon footprint.
The IMO’s strategy envisions a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from global shipping by 2050, with the aim of phasing out these emissions completely as soon as possible. In response, the alliance “Getting to Zero Coalition” has been formed with an ambition of introducing commercially viable zero emission vessels (ZEV) by 2030. This would mean that most of the shipping fleet will be carbon neutral by 2050, which is an important step for the maritime industry. As the lifetime of a vessel is around 20-30 years the transition will take time that is simply not available, a fact underlined by the IMO statement that emissions “should peak as soon as possible”. Green methanol is an ideal way to start reducing emissions immediately. Methanol from conventional sources is already being used as a fuel in several existing vessels, reducing sulphur and nitrogen oxide significantly, for example on the Stena Germanica using a Wärtsilä engine. With the increasing introduction of renewable energy sources and their falling prices, methanol can already be produced carbon neutrally to (indirectly) electrify the maritime industry today.
Stena Germanic - Powered by Methanol
To reach the ambitious goal of the IMO, alignment with new policies and regulations, established to accelerate the decarbonization of shipping, is also important. Under the Green Deal on sustainable mobility for instance, the EU promotes an increase in freight transport over water, but at the same time plans to widen the emission trading scheme to include the maritime sector, in order to ensure prices that reflect environmental impacts. This will force the sector to look for sustainable alternatives or risk paying penalties. Currently there is no alternative to green methanol, as the feedstock for biofuels like Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) is limited, requires massive land use and likely inadequate to supply shipping. Efficiency measures in ships are only able to marginally reduce emissions as physical limits are approached. In contrast, methanol can be blended in as needed to meet requirements and production can easily be scaled, is decentralised and can be carried out around the globe.
But it is not just increasing regulations and policies which will demand more sustainability. This will also be demanded by customers, private and corporate, across the supply chain. Consumer awareness is intensifying intensifying and will lead to a need for transparent, sustainable supply chains, this includes shipping. The cooperation between H&M and Maersk, in the form of ECO Delivery, is a perfect example of such a demand, and shows how alternative fuels can be turned into opportunities - there is a willingness to pay a premium for a such a service. With green methanol, these types of business models can be scaled throughout the industry and made widely available. To provide transparency and accountability a guarantee of origin scheme (like those for renewable electricity) for alternative fuels like green methanol is important. These “green certificates” will add value to the methanol, make it tradable without physically delivering green methanol to the exact ship to decrease transport emissions and provide proof of sustainability for all stakeholders. A solution could be based on blockchain, which has proven its ability to enable transparency from renewable source to consumer. This system will benefit both shipping and retailers as they are able to provide extra services while meeting sustainability demand.
Directly and indirectly, the increased use of green methanol in the maritime sector will be in alignment with many of the sustainable development goals and will positively impact the three pillars of sustainability which include society, economy, and biosphere. A growing demand for green methanol will support development of affordable renewable energy sources around the world (7), as green methanol will provide an extra business opportunity and can be produced anywhere. Green Methanol production enables every country to become a fuel producer and part of the value chain, which will provide sustainable growth (8)(9)(12). Most significantly green methanol, through lowering emissions of CO2, sulphur and nitrogen oxides, offers the opportunity to take urgent action to combat climate change and promotes the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans for sustainability development (13)(14).
The maritime sector is working towards connecting the world sustainably. This process will be accelerated with the use of already available clean burning carbon neutral green methanol, as regulations and stakeholder demand require the growth of clean alternatives. A blockchain scheme based on guarantees of origin could prove sustainability, create trustworthiness throughout the supply chain and provide another facet to what transport services can offer. To boost the maritime energy transition, shipping companies that want to take the lead are vital to set an example and show the feasibility of green methanol and its success. Most importantly, shipping companies will have to drive collaboration and create a common goal of sustainability between all stakeholders along the supply chain, to ensure the defossilisation of the maritime sector starts in time. We cannot wait thirty years for carbon neutral shipping, we must start acting now.