Maersk could use 15-20% alternative fuels for its fleet in 2030

Alternative fuels could account for up to a fifth of the marine fuel consumption of Maersk in 2030 as part of its goal to reach net zero by 2040, a senior company executive said on Thursday, November 28.

The container shipping giant typically consumes between 10 and 11 million metric tons of fuel oil equivalent per year, of which 3% were alternative fuels last year, Emma Mazhari, vice president, head of energy markets, told reporters.

The world’s fleet moves more than 80% of global trade and contributes about 3% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

“We would probably look at 15% to 20% green fuel or renewable fuel in 2030,” Mazhari said, adding that this depended on how well the company performed on its energy efficiency measures.

“It’s going to be biodiesel. Green methanol is going to feature very heavily, and bio-methane as well,” she said. Bio-methane production is growing in Europe and North America which can be used as fuel in ships that use liquefied natural gas (LNG), she added.

The company launched on Thursday its latest dual-fuelled methanol container vessel A.P. Moller, part of a fleet of 18 such ships scheduled to be delivered this year and next.

The Danish-flagged vessel had been filled with 500 metric tons of green methanol fuel before it left Hyundai Heavy Industries’ shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, Maersk said.

It has the capacity to carry 16,000 cubic metres of methanol which would allow it to sail from Asia to Europe and back.

Maersk has signed a contract with China’s LONGi Green Energy Technology to buy bio-methanol which will start in 2026.

While more shippers have placed orders for methanol dual-fuelled vessels, green methanol supply has yet to catch up with demand. Also, ships require about double the volume of methanol than traditional fuel due to the lower energy intensity.

Alternative fuels cost more than double conventional fuels, Maersk President Asia Pacific Ditlev Blicher said.

“Like many other green technologies, whether it’s solar panels or EV vehicles, you need scale and it needs to become commercially viable for it really to take off,” he said.

“What we need in that respect, is for regular regulations to push up the price of the dirty fuels.”

Maersk is working with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to get such regulations in place, Blicher said.

The IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee is scheduled in April to set a global regulatory structure for reducing GHG emissions in the maritime industry.

Reporting by Florence Tan Editing by Mark Potter

Source: Reuters

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