The LNG Marine Fuel Institute (LNG MFI) on Monday (7 December) changed its name to the Clean Marine Fuel Institute (Clean MFI) to better reflect the global shipping industry’s changing focus to decarbonising marine fuels.
Clean MFI CEO Margot Matthews said when the institute was first established in 2017, the focus of the maritime industry was on the human health impacts of shipping—specifically SOx (sulphur) and also NOx (nitrogen oxides) and particulates.
“This was driven by impending sulphur regulations from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a specialised UN agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships,” according to Ms Matthews.
“Back then, discussions around alternative marine fuels were limited primarily to liquefied natural gas (LNG), as it addressed particulate reduction and significantly reduced SOx and NOx emissions with a material reduction (30+ percentage) in greenhouse gases.
“However, as 2020 approached and with the IMO having primarily dealt with the sulphur regulations, the IMO’s focus shifted to developing regulations around decarbonising shipping and its ambition for the international shipping industry to reduce its average carbon intensity by up to 40 per cent by 2030 and 70 per cent in 2050, compared to 2008.
“At Clean MFI we understand that this will take time. Currently, there are no zero-emission alternative fuels available commercially. To enable these, both the technology and regulations are being developed in parallel with fuel supply.
Ms Matthews said using a two-pronged approach to the goal of decarbonising global shipping would mean growing the existing LNG ship fleet and bunkering capacity, while at the same time working efficiently and effectively on developing zero-emission fuels.
“It’s not a case of doing one or the other – we need both,” she said. “To reach the goals of the IMO we need to be working together on zero emission fuels as the ultimate objective and using cleaner fuels such as LNG during the transition period.”
“The IMO GHG emission targets create opportunities for us to adopt alternative marine fuels and, along with our members, we are committed to making this happen,” Ms Matthews concluded. “Our success will be measured through how efficiently, effectively and sustainably we are able to help our members turn this into a reality.”
Photo credit and source: Clean Marine Fuel Institute
Published: 8 December, 2020
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