2024: 'No silver bullet' as the trickle becomes the flood
As 2024 draws to a close, we see that the drafting of international trade into ...
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HD: DIY RE-PRICINGZIM: A RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL BOATSTSLA: CHINA THREATDAC: KEY REMARKSDAC: SURGING GM: SUPPLY CHAIN WOESMAERSK: ROTTERDAM TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF OPERATIONSATSG: OWNERSHIP UPDATERXO: COYOTE FILLIP GONEGM: SUPPLY CHAIN HITBA: CUT THE FAT ON THE BONER: STEADY YIELDMAERSK: SELL-SIDE UPDATESDAC: TRADING UPDATE OUT SOONTSLA: FEEL THE PAIN IN CHINAWMT: GUESS WHATXPO: SURGINGAMZN: LOOKING FORWARD
The two-year dichotomy between methanol and LNG could become a trichotomy this year, with the news that an OEM has run a two-stroke main engine at 100% load for the first time.
This week, MAN Energy Solutions showed that major strides have been taken in getting ammonia engines to the stage of commercial viability, running its ME-LGIA (-liquid gas injection ammonia) proving it could provide all a vessel’s propulsion needs.
Green ammonia is the only possible ship fuel that could eliminate all carbon emissions, both at the funnel and throughout the lifecycle. This is because the hydrogen contained ammonia, instead of being bonded with carbon, is bonded with nitrogen, which makes up some 80% of the earth’s atmosphere.
It is possible to decarbonise completely using sustainable variants of methanol or LNG. Biogenic, or naturally-occurring, sources of carbon and methane, such as from wetlands, can be chosen for harnessing upstream in the manufacturing process of fuels. When burned, this makes ship emissions carbon-neutral, even though in practice these vessels emit comparable levels of CO2 to conventional fuels at the funnel.
According to recent research by Alphaliner, all of the top ten ocean carriers are ordering vessels specced for either methanol- or LNG-fuelled operation, most on one side of the debate or the other. Only two, Mærsk and CMA CGM, appear to be diversifying into both.
But, as experts point out, the supply horizon of both bio-LNG and green methanol is limited to which biogenic sources can be found and exploited. On the other hand, green ammonia, made of atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen generated with renewable energy, is functionally infinite, limited only by the extent of solar panels, wind turbines, and electrolysers that can be constructed to support it.
This gives engine manufacturers a critical incentive to lower the technological barriers to ammonia adoption. Ole Pyndt Hansen, MAN’s head of two-stroke research & development, pointed to “an important step forward”.
“We have now operated the engine on ammonia from 25% to 100% load… [and] validated the ammonia fuel-injection system over the full load-curve, with diesel-pilot amounts recorded according to our targets,” he said.
Only surmountable hurdles remain, he added, with the next phases of testing concerning optimised injection and beefed-up selective catalytic reduction (scrubber) systems, which will be needed to keep nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions – the product of incomplete ammonia combustion – similar to ‘at bay’.
Recently, classification society DNV highlighted that many of the vessels being delivered today could be retrofitted to ammonia. In November, Hapag-Lloyd placed a $4bn order for 24 LNG dual-fuel vessels, supposedly “ready” for ammonia.
The change cannot come quickly enough, according to a study published by the UCL Energy Institute last week, which says that shipping could only achieve climate targets through the “virtually impossible” step of “only ordering zero-emission vessels as of today, and immediately replacing by, or converting to zero-emission vessels, all ships built before 2016.”
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