Transitioning the maritime industry to sustainable shipping fuels will require a significant increase in renewable energy sources, according to a new report by the European Maritime Safety Agency. The report suggested significantly more solar and wind installations must be built, because e-fuels will compete with other industrial applications for renewable energy. The report did not, however, mention the expansion or development of ocean energy sources, such as tidal and wave energy.
Some marine energy companies are thinking of their power installations as fueling the production of sustainable shipping fuels as well as coastal communities. This was not mentioned in the report. Instead, the report suggests that large desert areas are better suited for large production of e-fuels because they will have a smaller environmental impact, such as not taking land required for agriculture or biodiversity.
In addition to more renewable energy plants, the report said scaling up production of e-fuels requires electrolyzers, direct air capture (DAC) plants and e-fuel synthesis plants. The study focused on e-fuels such as e-methanol, e-methane and e-diesel, which, along with e-ammonia and e-hydrogen are considered to have the highest potential use for maritime fuels. These fuels require renewable hydrogen, made by splitting pure water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrolysis. Electrolysis also requires renewable energy, as does capturing the CO2 that is a component of these fuels.
The study noted that DAC is the least developed technology for production and that using biogenic CO2—such as CO2 extraction from ocean water to reduce acidification—could ease the constraint created by insufficient supplies of CO2. DAC also requires large amounts of water, however desalinated seawater is an option as long as the brine is disposed of in an environmentally sound way.
By 2030, the EMSA report said, a low-cost estimate is that ships running on these e-fuels will spend 45-85% more than ships running on conventional fuel oils, with the use of e-diesel representing the upper end and e-methane the lower end of the cost range. But the cost of e-fuels is expected to decrease significantly and, with carbon costs factored in, by 2050 it could be cheaper to run a newly-built ship on e-fuel than those powered by conventional fuel.
“The results of a retrofitting cost case for a small containership show that, depending on the fuel prices and the investment time, the shipowner may benefit from retrofitting some existing ships to using (a blend of) e-fuel,” the report said.
As always, the need for supporting regulation like those of the International Maritime Organization and the European Union’s including maritime transport in its emissions trading system, coupled with investment and demand from the industry will increase the likelihood of a successful transition.
