The World Shipping Council (WSC) announced its plans to propose to IMO the launch of an international research and development entity that would identify a new generation of marine fuels, in attempts to solve the GHG emissions issue.
Specifically, WSC’s proposal is another solution on reducing shipping emissions in line with IMO’s sulphur cap, that will come into force in January 2020.
If adopted by the IMO, the proposed International Maritime Research Board (IMRB) would be a dedicated-purpose new entity under the supervision of the IMO, with substantial industry participation.
I want to turn next to how we can solve that greenhouse gas problem
… commented John Butler, President and CEO of the World Shipping Council during the JOC Events Container Trade Europe Conference, Hamburg.
Moreover, John Butler added that the initiative would be funded by industry stakeholders based on fuel use, which is something that the IMO already tracks. The money gathered will be used for research purposes around the globe, from research institutions to national laboratories to independent institutions and companies.
The project will focus on evaluating which technologies are the most ideal to be commercially feasible for powering long ocean voyages and then doing the engineering work to get those fuels and technologies to the point whether they can be commercially viable.
He continued that this project is crucial as it will create a fundamental base for this kind of research and development work is that it is simply not feasible for any one company or any one country to provide the resources and focus that are necessary to get the R&D done on a scale and on a schedule that would allow the industry to meet the IMO’s greenhouse gas emissions reductions for 2050 and beyond.
Even though there are research projects currently underway on new fuels …, the fact is that we are going to need something bigger and more sustained to make decarbonization of shipping a reality. We think that standing up the IMRB to pursue R&D on a global scale is the way to reach that goal
… John Butler highlighted.
Concluding, the project will be able to solve the root problem of GHG emissions by finding and deploying new fuels and not at improving the existing fossil-fuel-based systems.
