The trade association for the methanol industry, the Methanol Institute (MI) has confirmed that the fuel is already available in more than 100 ports around the globe and that 47 of those ports have storage facilities in excess of 50,000tonnes.
Infiniti Research analysed information from an initial 56 ports which were known to store methanol and requested information on their readiness to supply the fuel for maritime bunkering. The company also identified a further 66 ports where storage of Methanol was already taking place. Research by Infiniti was conducted at the behest of MI.
Methanol Institute COO Chris Chatterton said that methanol has already been widely available for five decades as a petrochemical feedstock and a fuel, with the chemical put to many uses.
“Through our global seminar programmes and industry contacts, a persistent question we hear is to what extent methanol could be available as a fuel to support compliance with IMO 2020 and reduce NOx, PM and carbon emissions,” said Chatterton.
In an effort to answer this and other questions MI has collaborated with class society DNV GL and through its evaluation of the fuel, the class society has decided to add methanol to its Alternative Fuels Insight (AFI) platform. The AFI is available to all users of this platform and offers insights into the characteristics of a number of alternative fuels.
“DNV GL developed the AFI platform to support the shipping industry’s transition to a cleaner, green future with freely-available tools and resources,” said DNV GL AFI principal engineer Kjetil Martinsen.
Chatterton concluded that, “This co-operation with DNV GL will provide shipowners with the information they need to make decisions about adoption of this proven, compliant, future fuel.”
The availability data can be accessed free of charge on DNV GL’s AFI Platform here: https://store.veracity.com/alternative-fuels-insight-platform-afi.
