Can Green Shipping Really be Achieved?
Shipping is one of the globe’s most crucial industries as it fuels economic growth through facilitating trade and development across the world. This was never more apparent than in 2021, when the container ship Ever Given ran aground in the middle of the Suez Canal bringing global trade to a crawl and impacting value chains across the world.
However, shipping is also a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution as most ships rely on fossil fuels such as heavy bunker fuels. As it stands, shipping contributes nearly 3% of all GHG emissions globally. To address this challenge, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set a goal to reduce shipping’s GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels, and to phase them out completely as soon as possible within this century.
To achieve this ambitious target, the shipping industry will need to switch to alternative fuels that have zero or low GHG emissions across their lifecycle. Among the various options available, green hydrogen and green ammonia are emerging as the most promising candidates, as they are both derived from renewable energy sources and can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines to power ships.
Pros and Cons of Sustainable Fuels
Green hydrogen and green ammonia have several advantages over fossil fuels for shipping. They can significantly reduce GHG emissions and air pollution, emitting only water vapour and nitrogen when combusted. Sustainable fuels can also enhance energy security and diversify fuel supply, as they can be produced from local renewable resources in many regions of the world. Moreover, the production of these fuels create new economic opportunities and jobs in the renewable energy and maritime sectors, especially for developing countries with large renewable potential.
However, green hydrogen and green ammonia also face some challenges that need to be overcome before they can be widely adopted by the shipping industry. They are currently more expensive than fossil fuels, as they require large amounts of renewable electricity and capital-intensive infrastructure for production, storage and distribution. Hydrogen and ammonia also have a lower energy density than fossil fuels, which means that they require more space and weight on board ships, reducing cargo capacity and increasing fuel consumption. Furthermore, they pose some safety risks due to their flammability and toxicity, which require special handling and storage measures.
A full breakdown of how the maritime industry can overcome these challenges can be found in the whitepaper which we completed in partnership with Safetytech Accelerator and Lloyd’s Register earlier this year. In this whitepaper we examined the challenges faced by ship operators in transitioning to sustainable fuels and how the industry is responding. The full article can be read here: https://www.lr.org/en/marine-shipping/webinars-virtual-events/report-tracing-the-true-carbon-intensity-of-sustainable-marine-fuels/
Importance of Guarantee of Origin
To ensure that the fuels used by the shipping industry are truly green and sustainable, it is essential to have a reliable system monitoring guarantee of origin (GO) that tracks and certifies the origin, production method, and GHG emissions of each unit of fuel. A GO system can provide transparency and accountability for fuel suppliers and consumers, as well as regulators and policymakers. It can also create a market-based mechanism that rewards low-carbon fuels and penalises high-carbon fuels, creating an incentive for innovation and investment in green hydrogen and green ammonia.
In Carbon Central by TYMLEZ, a NoviqTech company, each unit of hydrogen or ammonia is certified through a live facility data platform that can track emissions data during the production process, such as water and fuel usage and grid electricity consumption. Distributed ledger technology is employed for green hydrogen and green ammonia tracking systems, ensuring trusted and transparent reporting on the Carbon Central TrustChain for each unit of fuel produced.
Reports created through Carbon Central can be utilised for regulatory compliance and to satisfy customer demands for proving the low or zero emissions origin of green fuels such as green hydrogen and green ammonia. It is technologies such as Carbon Central that will enable the delivery of the IMO’s ambitious 50% reduction in GHG emissions by 2050.
The future of global trade relies on the usage of sustainable fuels across maritime, aviation, and land. Through Carbon Central, NoviqTech is working to support fuel producers and consumers with the technology they need to assure the green provenance of their fuels.
Contact us today to learn how NoviqTech can empower your business operations.
