Class society DNV says that ammonia is the most likely zero-carbon fuel but that it is unlikely to be produced in sufficient quantities to meet the requirements of the shipping industry by 2030 and that LNG can bridge the divide from here to decarbonisation.
Speaking on Container News TV’s One-to-One, DNV’s container shipping business development manager Jan-Olaf Probst discussed the decarbonisation of deepsea shipping. He argued that in order to meet the 2030 International Maritime Organization (IMO) target of 30% reduction in carbon emissions, using 2008 levels as the baseline, the industry needs a fuel that it can turn to today.
Probst said DNV would “Happily support zero-carbon fuels,” if they existed and if they were likely to be produced in sufficient quantities to meet shipping’s needs in less than 10 years’ time.
He said LNG is already available and with further refinements will meet the industries greenhouse gas targets. “We are learning from [the use of] LNG and the technology used for LNG fuel can be transferred to alternative fuels, we can use LNG piping and tanks to switch to ammonia,” at a later stage when the fuel is available, added Probst.
According to Probst all alternative fuels come with their own set of problems, such as toxicity for ammonia and methane emissions from LNG, but if the industry starts to use LNG as a bridging fuel, “it will buy time” allowing for zero-carbon fuels and the infrastructure needed to be developed.
It is important that all stakeholders in the industry contribute, said Probst who believes that owners would be more readily involved if the regulators did not keep changing the set targets.
“Owners are willing to contribute, but they need a stable environment and timeline,” then they will meet the targets claimed Probst.
See the full DNV interview with Jan-Olaf Probst below.
