The choice of fuel used by the global shipping industry will be crucial to helping the sector decarbonise and achieve the kinds of emissions reductions required to have a meaningful positive impact on climate change.
This is the finding of the latest Maritime Forecast to 2050 released by DNV GL - Maritime. It modelled 16 different fuel types and ten fuel technology systems for the report to help stakeholders within the shipping industry make decisions about their future operations.
Shipping Management International reported on the forecast, noting that it has highlighted the choice of fuel as the most essential factor in driving decarbonisation within the sector.
Speaking to the news provider, Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO of DNV GL - Maritime, explained that lowering greenhouse gas emissions is “rapidly becoming the defining decision-making factor for the future of the shipping industry”.
He added that there is growing pressure for the industry to “act decisively”. However, Mr Ørbeck-Nilssen cautioned against waiting for the perfect solution to be developed.
“We mustn’t wait for an ideal solution to arrive and risk making no progress at all,” he asserted.
Under the decarbonisation pathways identified and modelled in the report, carbon-neutral fuels such as e-ammonia, blue ammonia and e-methanol are among those expected to see significant uptake.
This year, there has been a significant uptick in demand for LNG-powered vessels, with new lower-emission fuel requirements introduced by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Oil Price reported that the global LNG-powered shipping fleet is expected to double in the next decade.
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