According to ClearSeas, IMO’s progress to regulate emissions from fuel production, and to consider all types of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is moving slowly but is probably more important than the target net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.
Full range and lifecycle of emissions
Imranul Laskar, PhD Researcher in Resource, Environment and Sustainability at UBC, as well as Amanda Giang, Assistant Professor in the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC and Paul Blomerus, Executive Director and marine fuels decarbonization expert at Clear Seas, argue that targets and measures towards mitigating the climate impacts of shipping can only be successful if they are supported by appropriate metrics that capture the full range of GHGs and the full lifecycle of alternative fuels.
Although there have been discussions at the (International Maritime Organization) IMO on amending the indexes to a lifecycle metric taking into account all GHGs, not just CO2, no formal proposals on this issue were made in recent IMO sessions, the authors note.
According to ClearSeas, amendment of the existing indexes to include lifecycle GHGs, especially CO2, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), is critical for the international shipping sector to meet its climate targets.
The example of methane and methanol
For instance, methanol and methane seem like attractive alternative fuels at first, but this picture changes when all GHGs (not just CO2) are considered over the total lifecycle of fuel production and consumption, the authors claim. When methanol is produced from fossil natural gas – the most common production method – vast quantities of CO2 are emitted, ClearSeas highlights.
When these upstream CO2 emissions from the methanol manufacturing are added to the exhaust emissions from the ship’s engine, methanol turns out to be worse for the environment than conventional oil-based fuel – by approximately 20%, the authors highlight, the authors claim.
As a result, ClearSeas backs the idea that if regulations come into force that take into account the lifecycle emissions from production as well as consumption, ship operators who use methanol-powered ships will need to look for options outside of the widely available fossil-based methanol if they want to achieve GHG reductions — and these are currently limited.
