Shipping Industry adopts new Climate Targets
3 Min Read
On the 7th July 2023 the International Maritime Organisation formally adopted a revision to their Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction strategy.
The IMO is the agency within the United Nations, responsible for regulating the international shipping industry. They set rules on maritime safety, environmental aspects, security, and technical co-operation.
The new strategy states that:
1. Carbon intensity of the ship to decline through further improvement of the energy efficiency for new ships
to review with the aim of strengthening the energy efficiency design requirements for ships;
2. Carbon intensity of international shipping to decline
to reduce CO2 emissions per transport work, as an average across international shipping, by at least 40% by 2030, compared to 2008;
3. Uptake of zero or near-zero GHG emission technologies, fuels and/or energy sources to increase
uptake of zero or near-zero GHG emission technologies, fuels and/or energy sources to represent at least 5%, striving for 10%, of the energy used by international shipping by 2030; and
4. GHG emissions from international shipping to reach net zero
to peak GHG emissions from international shipping as soon as possible and to reach net-zero GHG emissions by or around, i.e. close to 2050, taking into account different national circumstances, whilst pursuing efforts towards phasing them out as called for in the Vision consistent with the long-term temperature goal set out in Article 2 of the Paris Agreement.
The strategy also includes checkpoints:
1. To reduce the total annual GHG emissions from international shipping by at least 20%, striving for 30%, by 2030, compared to 2008; and
2. To reduce the total annual GHG emissions from international shipping by at least 70%, striving for 80%, by 2040, compared to 2008.
On the face of it, phrases like “close to 2050” aren’t particularly reassuring, given shipping accounts for almost the same amount of CO2 as the UK (1.7% of global emissions), and the 2030 technology targets are low, but this strategy is an improvement compared to previous attempts by the shipping industry to work out a decarbonisation plan.
Shipping has long been considered one of the trickiest parts of our economy to decarbonise. While there are technical challenges, one of the reasons consensus on a path to net zero has been difficult to find is that shipping often fall outside of national boundaries jurisdictions. It was deliberately excluded from the Paris Agreement in 2015 (along with aviation) because of exactly that reason. Who is responsible for emissions from shipping? The country producing the goods? The country receiving the goods? The country that makes the ship? Or the country that has the flag the ship flies under (often unrelated to the owner or cargo entirely)?
This latest strategy at least sets a direction, with some intermediate targets, to set the industry on a course towards a net-zero end goal.
Getting there will depend on some technical decisions.
How can a ship run on clean power?
Currently, ships often run off bunker fuel, one of the worst emitting types of fossil fuels. It is essentially made from the dregs that are left after the refining process of oil, when more valuable derivatives like gasoline have already been siphoned off. It is basically tar, and has to be heated up to flow into the ships engines. Needless to say, it emits a lot of CO2 and other pollutants.
But obviously ships haven’t always run on fossil fuels, the wind has long blown ships around the world, and some innovative modern designs could see shipping harness it once again. Yet it remains to be seen if shipping can go back to relying on the whims of weather patterns, given how crucial it is to global change. Just look at the impact of COVID keeping container ships in docks had on prices in the store, or the impact to global commerce when the EverGiven ship got stuck in the Suez Canal.
A reliable, affordable, green fuel is the most promising path to decarbonising shipping
Some short-hop ferries and vessels may end up being able to use batteries and fuel cells. Ammonia is touted as a potential fuel, but for the long-haul, super-massive cargo ships the leading candidate appears to be Methanol.
In February 2023 alone a record 22 methanol powered ships were ordered, double those powered by LNG. Maersk and Evergreen are leading the way, putting real money into new orders of alternatively fuelled cargo ships.
Now, if anyone remembers their school Chemistry, they will know that Methanol’s chemical formula is CH3OH. The inclusion of that Carbon means that when it is burned in a ship, CO2 is produced. So how can it be a green fuel?
Well, Methanol has to be created, and to make it in a green way you can either use Biomass, or use captured CO2 from the atmosphere, along with Hydrogen produced by an Electrolyser running on power from Renewables or Nuclear, and then the CO2 emitted just returns to the atmosphere when burnt, it doesn’t add to what we have already put up there. (See an explainer here).