Pink, green, white, brown, turquoise, blue, and grey are all beautiful colours. But did you know that alternative fuels come in all these colours and many other forms?
BIMCO has recently a published a climate change glossary to clarify and harmonise definitions and terminology to ensure that the discussions around climate change and potential solutions for the shipping industry are based on a mutual understanding. This glossary includes the following terms relating to alternative fuels:
Alternative fuels
Alternative fuels are fuels which serve, at least partly, as a substitute for traditionally used fossil fuels in the energy supply and which have the potential to contribute to decarbonisation. (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2021).
Grey/Black/Brown fuels
Grey/Black and Brown fuels are generated from traditional fossil fuels sources with the shades normally referring to the fossil fuel feedstock which is used in the process (eg brown/black for coal and grey for natural gas). The carbon dioxide (CO2) and any carbon monoxide (CO) generated during the process of fuel production are not recaptured.
Green fuels
Green fuels are those where the production employs electrolysis—the separation of hydrogen and oxygen molecules by applying electrical energy to water. To be a green fuel, renewable sources such as wind and solar power are used to generate the electricity for the separation process. When applied to fuels such as methanol, it normally means that the hydrogen is produced in this way and the carbon dioxide (CO2) used has been captured from the air. For ammonia, it means the hydrogen has been produced in this way and the nitrogen used has been separated from air using renewable energy.
Blue fuels
Blue fuels are those which use hydrogen produced from traditional fossil fuels but where the carbon dioxide (CO2) from steam reforming is captured and stored- using carbon capture and storage (CCS). Blue ammonia therefore means that the carbon generated in the production of hydrogen has been captured and stored using industrial CCS. The term blue is also used when the gases used to generate the fuel have been recycled or are reused from another industrial purpose eg blue methanol.
Turquoise fuels
Turquoise fuels are those which use hydrogen that is generated from the decomposition of methane by pyrolysis (which creates hydrogen and solid carbon) and where the electricity used in the pyrolysis is generated by renewable energy sources.
Pink fuels
Pink fuels are those where the hydrogen used is generated through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy. Nuclear-produced hydrogen can also be referred to as purple hydrogen or red hydrogen.
White fuels
White fuels are those where hydrogen, which is naturally occurring and geological found in underground deposits, is created through fracking. There are no strategies to exploit this hydrogen at present.
Yellow fuels
Yellow fuels are those where the hydrogen used is generated through electrolysis using solar power.
Biofuels
Biofuels are liquid fuels produced from biomass. Biomass means the biodegradable fraction of products, waste, and residues from biological origin from agriculture, including plants, vegetables, and animal substances, from forestry and related industries, including fisheries and aquaculture, as well as the biodegradable fraction of waste, including industrial and municipal waste of biological origin. (European Parliament & Council of the European Union, 2018; Jeswani et al., 2020)
Synthetic fuels
Synthetic fuel is a generic term applied to any manufactured fuel with the approximate composition and comparable specific energy of a natural fuel. It is primarily used to refer to carbon-based liquid or gaseous fuels manufactured, via chemical conversion processes, from a carbon source such as coal, carbon dioxide (CO2), natural gas, biogas, or biomass. This includes using established conventional fossil-based processes.
Electrofuels (eFuels)
Electrofuels are advanced gaseous and liquid fuels normally produced from hydrogen and often captured carbon dioxide (CO2) and which use sustainable electricity as the principal power source for the generation of the fuel. The “e” refers to the method of production of the fuel.
EXPLORE MORE AT THE GLOSSARY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE
