The US Maritime Administration (MARAD) has announced the availability of the Energy Efficiency White Paper that provides marine vessel owners and operators information on how to evaluate potential investments in efficiency measures and technologies.
The white paper outlines the latest energy efficiency measures currently available for marine vessels, including how the technology works, potential fuel savings, applicability to various vessels types, and lifecycle costs.
If implemented, these types of energy efficiency measures may also assist owners of vessels undergoing a major conversion to comply with the Energy Efficiency for Ships Regulations contained in Chapter 4 of MARPOL Annex VI.
Numerous opportunities for energy savings exist on a typical vessel from the propulsion system to the hull (as seen in Figure above article). This report is a broad reaching survey of energy efficiency measures, including both technologies and operational strategies.
Each technology is described at a high level, so as to be easily understood and quickly digested. The paper can also serve as an evaluation tool, for operators to understand and compare the relative merits of various technologies. Stakeholders can leverage the information in the paper to launch a detailed cost analysis of their project once one or more technologies have been selected.
For each efficiency measure, various critical issues are discussed:
- What is the potential for fuel savings?
- How does it work?
- What is the applicability to various vessel types?
- Is it best for new-builds or retrofits?
- What is the level of the technology development?
- What is the relative lifecycle cost?
The white paper was developed through the Ship Operations Cooperative Program (SOCP) with funding from MARAD’s Maritime Environmental and Technical Assistance Program.
Source: US MARAD
