One downside to this is that burning anything in air, which consists largely of nitrogen, inevitably produces some level of nitrogen oxides – which are major air pollutants. It can be burnt in an internal combustion engine, as Hydroville is currently doing. Once the hydrogen is produced, there are several ways it can be used to power ships. “And then you see, ‘Oh, there's a business case for the electrolysers’.” “We first need to show, look, we are customers and we are willing to pay that amount for hydrogen,” says Campe.
“Fuel producers need to see some legitimate demand in order to invest into its production, so it’s sort of like a chicken/egg problem – whether the ship technology develops first or the fuel side develops first,” she says.ĬMB itself is already acting as an early mover by building its own maritime refuelling station for hydrogen cars, buses and ships in Antwerp port, which will produce its own hydrogen using an electrolyser. The problem is that right now, the availability of green hydrogen is just not there, says Xiaoli Mao, a researcher on the marine team at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). “That means from the point of where the fuel is extracted, or produced, until the point of combustion.”
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“Green hydrogen can be really emission-free on a full lifecycle basis,” says Marie Hubatova, a shipping emissions expert at the Environmental Defence Fund. This process is expensive, and currently just 0.1% of hydrogen is made using it, but this is where the main hope lies for a climate-friendly shipping fuel. While this kind of hydrogen could be used to power ships with zero emissions from the ship itself, obviously it is not low-carbon since fossil fuels are used to produce it.īut hydrogen also can be produced without fossil fuels, using renewable energy to split water in a process called electrolysis. In fact, 6% of global natural gas and 2% of coal currently goes to hydrogen production. But nearly all hydrogen, which is already used heavily in industry, is produced using fossil fuels.
The gas is already widely used in industrial processes across the globe – demand for it has increased three-fold since 1975. Which leaves hydrogen and other synthetic fuels made from clean electricity. But there will likely be limits on the distance these can power large ships crossing oceans would simply need too many batteries to run on these alone. But these have a large array of planned uses in other sectors while their sustainable production is limited, says Tristan Smith, a shipping emissions researcher at University College London.īatteries charged using renewable electricity are another option. Biofuels – fuels made from plant materials or animal waste – are another. Hydrogen isn’t the only alternative fuel option, of course. These fuels, together often called “synthetic” fuels, are seen as a particularly promising option because they can be made using clean electricity – such as solar or wind power – and burned without emitting any greenhouse gases. To cut emissions, some of this energy could be reduced through ships using more efficient designs, installing technologies to harness wind, going a bit slower to conserve fuel, or simply transporting less things.īut ultimately, if shipping is going to fully decarbonise – and it will have to if the world is to stay within safe temperature limits – it needs to find a replacement for fossil fuels.ĬMB’s hydrogen programme is one of several shipping projects across the world testing how hydrogen and other fuels made from it, such as ammonia and methanol, could be used to power a low-carbon maritime industry of the future. It takes a lot of energy to haul a ship through the water – and there are an increasing number of ships to haul as world trade grows. How hydrogen is transforming these tiny Scottish islands.The surprising new fuel to come from Saudi Arabia.Governments in 2018 pledged to cut shipping emissions in half by 2050, but industry has been slow so far to implement measures on the ground. Ships currently emit 3% of all greenhouse gases, and emissions are projected to grow by up to 50% by 2050 if the industry continues on a business-as-usual path. The small boat sector is a great “proving ground” to scale up clean tech solutions for large merchant vessels, according to Diane Gilpin, founder of the Smart Green Shipping Alliance. CMB is already building several other hydrogen-powered boats, including a larger, 80-person ferry in Japan set for launch in early 2021.
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