ClassNK publishes white paper on 2023 IMO strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships
- Published
by Admin
Classification society ClassNK on Tuesday (17 October) said has released a white paper to encourage broad discussions among stakeholders and accelerate efforts toward decarbonisation.
In July 2023, the IMO adopted the “2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships”, which includes goals such as achieving net-zero GHG emissions by or around 2050.
While the strategy sets numerical targets for reducing GHG emissions as well as indicative checkpoints, ClassNK said the maritime industry has not yet reached a common understanding of what these numerical targets mean for international shipping, which led to the publication of the white paper.
The paper titled Pathway to Zero-Emission in International Shipping – Understanding the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy analyses the allowable life cycle GHG emissions for international shipping and the required introduction amount of zero-emission bunker fuels and zero-emission ships to achieve the targets.
It also analyses indicative checkpoints in the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy, including comparisons with the current situation.
According to paper, the allowable GHG emissions for international shipping in 2030/2040 will be 585 million tons and 219 million tonnes, respectively. This represents a reduction of about 27% and 73% compared to the latest 2021 level of 798 million tonnes. Note that these GHG emissions are estimated based on the life cycle GHG emissions of the fuels used by ships.
To achieve the indicative checkpoints for 2030/2040, approximately 25%/72% of the fuels used in international shipping, respectively, must be zero-emission fuels. This necessitates the procurement of methanol and ammonia, etc., particularly those derived from green hydrogen, at a scale matching the current production levels across all sectors by 2030 and surpassing them by 2040.
Note: The full version of white paper titled “Pathway to Zero-Emission in International Shipping – Understanding the 2023 IMO GHG Strategy” is available on the ClassNK’s website here.
Photo credit: ClassNK
Published: 19 October, 2023
