While there is still uncertainty surrounding the use of synthetic fuels, these could add to the expanding focus on sustainable future fuels benefiting the tanker market, according to Gibson Shipbrokers.
For a synfuel, water is electrolyzed with hydrogen atoms that have been split by the process of being blended with captured carbon dioxide to create a liquid fuel called e-methanol. This can be further refined turning it into e-gasoline, e-diesel or e-kerosene for aircraft.
Among the advantages of synthetic fuels is that they act like conventional fuels and can provide a drop-in replacement for existing oil-sourced fuels. They have no impact on vehicle performance and in some cases can provide more power, while they also provide a significant reduction in CO2, Gibson said in their Weekly Tanker Market Report.
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The blending of synfuels with regular fuels may also help cut CO2 emissions and will allow time for the new synthetic fuels to ramp-up production capacity and capability. In the longer term, synfuels are designed to replace regular fuels, as demand for carbon-based fuels declines. However, this could take some time as the efuel Alliance forecasts just 4% of admixture by 2025, 12% by 2030 and 100% by 2050.
The tanker market could start to see an increase of synfuels being transported, according to the report. It would seem there would be no need for different tanker designs to carry these new fuels, meaning current tankers could potentially drop in and out of their current trading patterns and operations and transport these new fuels as and when required, or even specialize in this new and potentially growing fuel sector.
These is still much of the unknown about the future of synfuels, such as production costs and locations of production facilities, but these fuels could add to the expanding focus on sustainable future fuels all to the benefit of both Porsche owners and the tanker market,
…Gibson said.