Subscribe to our Mailing Lists (It's free!)
Monday, September 25, 2023
SAFETY4SEA
  • Home
  • Safety
    • All
    • Accidents
    • Alerts
    • Loss Prevention
    • Maritime Health
    • Regulation
    • Safety
    • Seafarers
    • Security
    Explosion leads to crew evacuation in the Romanian port of Sulina

    Explosion leads to crew evacuation in the Romanian port of Sulina

    NTSB Investigation: Grounding of tugboat CC Portland

    NTSB Investigation: Grounding of tugboat CC Portland

    BMA Investigation: Seafarer suffers fatal injuries during mooring

    BMA Investigation: Seafarer suffers fatal injuries during mooring

    Gard: How use of mooring lines affects crew’s life

    Gard: How use of mooring lines affects crew’s life

  • SEAFiT
    • All
    • Intellectual
    • Mental
    • Physical
    • Social
    • Spiritual
    Practicing gratitude can change your life

    Practicing gratitude can change your life

    Always do what your gut tells you: Keep it healthy

    Always do what your gut tells you: Keep it healthy

    Book Review: A role model for ship managers

    Book Review: How we perceive and deal with luck in life and business

    social media detox

    Stay SEAFiT: Time for social media detox

  • Green
    • All
    • Arctic
    • Ballast
    • Emissions
    • Fuels
    • Green Shipping
    • Pollution
    • Ship Recycling
    • Technology
    symphony of the seas

    Royal Caribbean Group conducts 12 weeks of biofuel testing

    Watch: How shipping helps Apple reduce 95% of transport emissions

    Watch: How shipping helps Apple reduce 95% of transport emissions

    Samsung Heavy Industries creates world’s first laser, high-speed welding robot

    Samsung Heavy Industries creates world’s first laser, high-speed welding robot

    California launches international methane-reduction initiative

    California launches international methane-reduction initiative

  • Smart
    • All
    • Connectivity
    • Cyber Security
    • E-navigation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Maritime Software
    • Smart

    K Line, TIS, Miotsukushi to develop AI-powered automatic draft survey application

    Hapag-Lloyd focuses on enhanced connectivity onboard

    Hapag-Lloyd focuses on enhanced connectivity onboard

    BV eyes data-driven decarbonization solutions

    BV eyes data-driven decarbonization solutions

    Delivering for the seafarer of tomorrow

    IGP&I: Electronic Trade Documents Act comes into force in the UK

  • Risk
    • All
    • CIC
    • Detentions
    • Fines
    • PSC Case Studies
    • PSC Focus
    • Vetting
    ClassNK amends its rules on construction of steel ships

    Liberia: How to comply with PSC focus on firefighting and clean machinery spaces

    orange county oil spill fines

    Crude oil tanker to pay 88 crores for damaging Haldia oil jetty

    China conducts ballast water inspections to vessels arriving from Japan

    China conducts ballast water inspections to vessels arriving from Japan

    M/V “HAKSA” refused access to the Paris MoU

    M/V “HAKSA” refused access to the Paris MoU

  • Others
    • All
    • Diversity in shipping
    • Maritime Knowledge
    • Offshore
    • Ports
    • Reports
    • Shipping
    • Sustainability
    • Videos
    Baltic Exchange: Maritime market highlights 2-8 April

    Baltic Exchange: Maritime market highlights 18 – 22 September

    offshore wind installation vessels

    Allianz: Prominent risks in the offshore wind industry

    Singapore is the top maritime centre for 10 consecutive years

    Singapore is the top maritime centre for 10 consecutive years

    Global bunker supplier complies with carbon reduction criteria

    Global bunker supplier complies with carbon reduction criteria

  • Columns
    Seafarer Stories: Capt. Cristian Bacanu, Master

    Seafarer Stories: Capt. Cristian Bacanu, Master

    Wellness Corner: Tom O’Hare, Mission to Seafarers

    Wellness Corner: Tom O’Hare, Mission to Seafarers

    AMSA: Seafarers must have a voice in shaping shipping’s future

    MNWB: Seafarers’ needs are no different to anyone else’s needs

    Trending Tags

    • Book Review
    • Career Paths
    • Industry Voices
    • Interviews
    • Maripedia
    • Maritime History
    • Resilience
    • Seafarers Stories
    • SeaSense
    • Wellness Corner
  • Events
  • Plus
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Safety
    • All
    • Accidents
    • Alerts
    • Loss Prevention
    • Maritime Health
    • Regulation
    • Safety
    • Seafarers
    • Security
    Explosion leads to crew evacuation in the Romanian port of Sulina

    Explosion leads to crew evacuation in the Romanian port of Sulina

    NTSB Investigation: Grounding of tugboat CC Portland

    NTSB Investigation: Grounding of tugboat CC Portland

    BMA Investigation: Seafarer suffers fatal injuries during mooring

    BMA Investigation: Seafarer suffers fatal injuries during mooring

    Gard: How use of mooring lines affects crew’s life

    Gard: How use of mooring lines affects crew’s life

  • SEAFiT
    • All
    • Intellectual
    • Mental
    • Physical
    • Social
    • Spiritual
    Practicing gratitude can change your life

    Practicing gratitude can change your life

    Always do what your gut tells you: Keep it healthy

    Always do what your gut tells you: Keep it healthy

    Book Review: A role model for ship managers

    Book Review: How we perceive and deal with luck in life and business

    social media detox

    Stay SEAFiT: Time for social media detox

  • Green
    • All
    • Arctic
    • Ballast
    • Emissions
    • Fuels
    • Green Shipping
    • Pollution
    • Ship Recycling
    • Technology
    symphony of the seas

    Royal Caribbean Group conducts 12 weeks of biofuel testing

    Watch: How shipping helps Apple reduce 95% of transport emissions

    Watch: How shipping helps Apple reduce 95% of transport emissions

    Samsung Heavy Industries creates world’s first laser, high-speed welding robot

    Samsung Heavy Industries creates world’s first laser, high-speed welding robot

    California launches international methane-reduction initiative

    California launches international methane-reduction initiative

  • Smart
    • All
    • Connectivity
    • Cyber Security
    • E-navigation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Maritime Software
    • Smart

    K Line, TIS, Miotsukushi to develop AI-powered automatic draft survey application

    Hapag-Lloyd focuses on enhanced connectivity onboard

    Hapag-Lloyd focuses on enhanced connectivity onboard

    BV eyes data-driven decarbonization solutions

    BV eyes data-driven decarbonization solutions

    Delivering for the seafarer of tomorrow

    IGP&I: Electronic Trade Documents Act comes into force in the UK

  • Risk
    • All
    • CIC
    • Detentions
    • Fines
    • PSC Case Studies
    • PSC Focus
    • Vetting
    ClassNK amends its rules on construction of steel ships

    Liberia: How to comply with PSC focus on firefighting and clean machinery spaces

    orange county oil spill fines

    Crude oil tanker to pay 88 crores for damaging Haldia oil jetty

    China conducts ballast water inspections to vessels arriving from Japan

    China conducts ballast water inspections to vessels arriving from Japan

    M/V “HAKSA” refused access to the Paris MoU

    M/V “HAKSA” refused access to the Paris MoU

  • Others
    • All
    • Diversity in shipping
    • Maritime Knowledge
    • Offshore
    • Ports
    • Reports
    • Shipping
    • Sustainability
    • Videos
    Baltic Exchange: Maritime market highlights 2-8 April

    Baltic Exchange: Maritime market highlights 18 – 22 September

    offshore wind installation vessels

    Allianz: Prominent risks in the offshore wind industry

    Singapore is the top maritime centre for 10 consecutive years

    Singapore is the top maritime centre for 10 consecutive years

    Global bunker supplier complies with carbon reduction criteria

    Global bunker supplier complies with carbon reduction criteria

  • Columns
    Seafarer Stories: Capt. Cristian Bacanu, Master

    Seafarer Stories: Capt. Cristian Bacanu, Master

    Wellness Corner: Tom O’Hare, Mission to Seafarers

    Wellness Corner: Tom O’Hare, Mission to Seafarers

    AMSA: Seafarers must have a voice in shaping shipping’s future

    MNWB: Seafarers’ needs are no different to anyone else’s needs

    Trending Tags

    • Book Review
    • Career Paths
    • Industry Voices
    • Interviews
    • Maripedia
    • Maritime History
    • Resilience
    • Seafarers Stories
    • SeaSense
    • Wellness Corner
  • Events
  • Plus
No Result
View All Result
SAFETY4SEA

NABU: Methanol has enormous potential to make shipping more climate-friendly

by The Editorial Team
March 17, 2023
in Fuels
low carbon fuels Middle East

Image source: Shutterstock

FacebookTwitterEmailLinkedin

This March, Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) NGO released a study on methanol as a marine fuel focusing on its advantages and disadvantages and highlighting that it is significantly less harmful to the environment and can be used more straightforwardly than ammonia or hydrogen – let alone heavy fuel oil.

Methanol can be an important building block in the transition to more climate-friendly shipping. To be climate neutral, e-methanol must be produced using renewable energy and a sustainable source of CO2. Biomethanol or e-methanol with carbon sourced from biomass are not applicable solutions on a larger scale.

Methanol advantages:

  • E-methanol offers many advantages compared to fossil fuels such as diesel, heavy fuel oil and LNG but also to e-ammonia.
  • In the event of a leak, methanol dissolves very quickly in water.
  • Vapors released into the air are also dispersed quickly.
  • There are already safety guidelines for methanol in shipping in place, as well as empirical data from ships already operating on methanol.
  • The risks to marine ecosystems are manageable and significantly lower compared to today’s fuels or ammonia.
  • Above all, risks are much lower than with toxic heavy fuel oil that is used on many ships today and frequently leads to the contamination of entire regions.

  It is high time turning the tide. Technical solutions are important. But it is even more important that the political course is now set so that these technologies finally sweep fossil fuels out of the race. Last chance for shipping to meet the Paris climate goals.

…said Leif Miller, NABU CEO.

Methanol Production 

RelatedNews

Singapore is the top maritime centre for 10 consecutive years

Royal Caribbean Group conducts 12 weeks of biofuel testing

The production of e-methanol consists of several steps and is based on the availability of green hydrogen produced from renewable energy and water through water electrolysis. Given the need for more renewable energy capacities and their limitation today, green hydrogen production necessitates additional renewable electricity generation. The climate impact of e-methanol is mainly determined by the use of renewable energy throughout the whole production process and by the source of CO2 used as input to the production of the fuel.

In 2022, the production of methanol via alternative production pathways (i.e. bio-methanol from residual biomass or e-methanol) was very limited. Its future availability will depend upon the level of investment in new capacity to ramp up production. It is estimated that methanol will enter the markets around 2024-25

Credit: NABU

Methanol in the shipping sector

Methanol (CH3OH) is liquid at ambient temperatures, less energy dense than conventional fossil fuels (like MGO), but more energy dense than ammonia or hydrogen. Based on the energy density, tanks onboard a vessel would hence be larger for methanol than MGO tanks but similar in size to liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks. Methanol tanks can be installed in areas of the ship (e.g. at the bottom) where other fuel tanks, such as ammonia and LNG, could not be installed due to their more complicated fuel characteristics (like pressure and toxicity).

As a result, the overall space consumption for methanol on board is a little less compared to LNG and ammonia. According to engine manufacturers (Wärtsilä 2022), tanks for methanol will (depending on the ship design) only be 1.6 times larger than for MGO.

Due to the larger tank size, there can be a trade-off between the cargo carrying capacity and the refuelling pattern when using methanol as a marine fuel. If the cargo-carrying capacity is  maintained, a methanol-fuelled fleet could maintain 93 % of the current cargo (bulk) operations. Experts from the industry thus confirm that a loss in cargo-carrying capacity of ships running on methanol is expected, but that there is enough bunkering space onboard to maintain today’s trade route or operating range.

Credit: NABU

Methanol port storage 

The available bunkering option for methanol will vary depending on the port and the amount of fuel demanded. Initially, new fuels will likely be delivered truck-to-ship or ship-to-ship. Although the properties of methanol (i.e. such as its flammability, toxicity and corrosivity) present risks for the bunkering of the fuel, ports already have a lot of experience in safely handling methanol and the fuel is available in over 100 ports globally.

In total, the research identified a total methanol storage capacity at ports of approx. 25 Mt. Iran, the Netherlands, China, Saudi Arabia and Belgium collectively account for 60 % of the global methanol storage capacity at ports identified. It should be added that the storage capacity for methanol represents a potential and this will only be made available in practice if there is sufficient demand in the future for methanol as a marine fuel. It is expected that existing infrastructure for petroleum products (like HFO) could be converted to methanol storage and distribution with only minor modifications that would further increase capacity.

Credit: NABU

Sönke Diesener, NABU shipping expert: “Green methanol is a climate- and at the same time environmentally friendly fuel. However, a huge volumes of renewable electricity is required to produce the necessary quantity. But in shipping, unlike other industries, there is no way around e-fuels.”

To bring e-fuels to market as quickly as possible, the international requirements for limiting the climate impact in shipping must be adapted promptly and price differences compared with fossil fuels, for example via a CO2 price, must be compensated for as quickly as possible. International Maritime Organization (IMO) must not miss this year’s chance to adopt climate neutrality by 2050 and advance an effective pricing of greenhouse gas emissions.

…Sönke Diesener added.

Toxicity for humans and marine environment

Methanol is easily absorbed by inhalation, ingestion or skin contact and it is rapidly distributed in the body. It is highly flammable und acutely toxic to humans and mammals. Methanol poisoning can cause irreversible damage to nerves, especially the typical damage to the optic nerve caused by
methanol can lead to blindness.

However, methanol is unlikely to be ingested in the normal handling of a fuel, so this risk of poisoning is considered to be very low. In contrast to the toxicity to humans, methanol is less toxic to aquatic organisms (fish, invertebrates, algae and microorganisms).

If methanol is spilled into sea water most of it will disperse rapidly in the water because of the high solubility. Depending on the temperature some of the methanol will form a vapor phase above the water, which is also dispersed quickly. It is fully biodegradable with no potential to bioaccumulate. This makes methanol the fuel with the lowest toxicity and the lowest hazard compared to diesel, heavy fuel oil or ammonia.

Important findings

  • The future fuel mix in all segments of shipping will become more diverse depending on the application.
  • With appropriate production, e-methanol will make an important contribution to this, above all from a nature conservation perspective, but also from a climate perspective.
  • In addition to internal combustion engines, fuel cells and batteries will become increasingly important.
  • To fundamentally reduce energy requirements, however, ships must above all become more efficient and make use alternatives such as wind propulsion.
  • Ultimately, the demand for energy must also be reduced through lower transportation requirements.

READ THE FULL STUDY

 

Tags: alternative energyalternative fuelsammoniabiofuelsdecarbonizationgreen practicesHFOhydrogenmethanemethanolMGONABUreports
Previous Post

First LNG dual-fuel bulker desulph conversion project completed

Next Post

California and Japan establish green corridor

Related News

Watch: How shipping helps Apple reduce 95% of transport emissions
Emissions

Watch: How shipping helps Apple reduce 95% of transport emissions

September 22, 2023
California launches international methane-reduction initiative
Fuels

California launches international methane-reduction initiative

September 22, 2023
EIA: Records China crude oil exports the first half of 2023
Fuels

China makes major move to establish green methanol industrial chain

September 22, 2023
alternative low-carbon green fuels for shipping
Fuels

Elyse Energy signs e-fuels financing deal with Hy24 and Mirova

September 22, 2023
Bureau Veritas explores ammonia as fuel for ships
Technology

New technology aims to alleviate industry’s methane footprint

September 21, 2023
Port of Tyne aspires to become the next green methanol bunkering hub
Green Shipping

Port of Tyne aspires to become the next green methanol bunkering hub

September 21, 2023

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

NATO phonetic alphabet

Do you know what NATO phonetic alphabet is?

November 24, 2020
singapore border measures

Do you know what GT and DWT measure in a ship?

November 10, 2021
MARITIME EVENTS

Explore

  • Safety
  • SEAFiT
  • Green
  • Smart
  • Risk
  • Others
  • SAFETY4SEA Events
  • SAFETY4SEA Plus Subscription

Useful Links

  • About
  • Disclaimer
  • Editorial Policies
  • Advertising
  • Content Marketing
  • Contact

© 2021 SAFETY4SEA

No Result
View All Result
  • Safety
    • Accidents
    • Alerts
    • Loss Prevention
    • Maritime Health
    • Regulation
    • Safety
    • Seafarers
    • Security
  • SEAFiT
    • Intellectual
    • Mental
    • Physical
    • Social
    • Spiritual
  • Green
    • Arctic
    • Ballast
    • Emissions
    • Fuels
    • Green Shipping
    • Pollution
    • Ship Recycling
    • Technology
  • Smart
    • Connectivity
    • Cyber Security
    • E-navigation
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Maritime Software
    • Smart
  • Risk
    • CIC
    • Detentions
    • Fines
    • PSC Case Studies
    • PSC Focus
    • Vetting
  • Others
    • Diversity in shipping
    • Maritime Knowledge
    • Offshore
    • Ports
    • Reports
    • Shipping
    • Sustainability
    • Videos
  • Columns
    • Opinions
    • Book Review
    • Career Paths
    • Industry Voices
    • Interviews
    • Maripedia
    • Maritime History
    • Resilience
    • Seafarers Stories
    • SeaSense
    • Wellness Corner
  • SAFETY4SEA Events
  • SAFETY4SEA Plus Subscription

© 2021 SAFETY4SEA

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Disclaimer.