A Study on the Limitations of Green Alternative Fuels in Global Shipping in the Foreseeable Future

Shipping carries over 80% of global trade volumes and emits 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but it is hard to abate due to the simple fact that ships require a lot of energy and move around. Therefore, a large amount of research and development is poured into understanding the choices of alte...

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Main Author: Jan Emblemsvåg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/79
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author Jan Emblemsvåg
author_facet Jan Emblemsvåg
author_sort Jan Emblemsvåg
collection DOAJ
description Shipping carries over 80% of global trade volumes and emits 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but it is hard to abate due to the simple fact that ships require a lot of energy and move around. Therefore, a large amount of research and development is poured into understanding the choices of alternative fuels and developing new technologies. Unfortunately, much of the work and policies derived, therefore, seem to rest on a hidden assumption that a relevant amount of green alternative fuel will be available, but that assumption does not stand up to scrutiny on a global level. For example, the results show that decarbonizing global shipping using green ammonia produced from renewable energy sources will require 3.7 times the total EU-27 power production in 2022. The purpose and novelty of this paper are to offer a clear rationale for the correct contextualization of research and development on curbing greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping and individual shipping segments to avoid overpromising and underdelivering.
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spelling doaj-art-ec6beb6e5c6142fd8081a3f017b41c742025-01-24T13:36:47ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122025-01-011317910.3390/jmse13010079A Study on the Limitations of Green Alternative Fuels in Global Shipping in the Foreseeable FutureJan Emblemsvåg0Department of Ocean Operations and Civil Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), 6025 Ålesund, NorwayShipping carries over 80% of global trade volumes and emits 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but it is hard to abate due to the simple fact that ships require a lot of energy and move around. Therefore, a large amount of research and development is poured into understanding the choices of alternative fuels and developing new technologies. Unfortunately, much of the work and policies derived, therefore, seem to rest on a hidden assumption that a relevant amount of green alternative fuel will be available, but that assumption does not stand up to scrutiny on a global level. For example, the results show that decarbonizing global shipping using green ammonia produced from renewable energy sources will require 3.7 times the total EU-27 power production in 2022. The purpose and novelty of this paper are to offer a clear rationale for the correct contextualization of research and development on curbing greenhouse gas emissions from global shipping and individual shipping segments to avoid overpromising and underdelivering.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/79batteriesbiofuelsgravimetric energy densitygreen ammoniagreen methanolgreen hydrogen
spellingShingle Jan Emblemsvåg
A Study on the Limitations of Green Alternative Fuels in Global Shipping in the Foreseeable Future
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
batteries
biofuels
gravimetric energy density
green ammonia
green methanol
green hydrogen
title A Study on the Limitations of Green Alternative Fuels in Global Shipping in the Foreseeable Future
title_full A Study on the Limitations of Green Alternative Fuels in Global Shipping in the Foreseeable Future
title_fullStr A Study on the Limitations of Green Alternative Fuels in Global Shipping in the Foreseeable Future
title_full_unstemmed A Study on the Limitations of Green Alternative Fuels in Global Shipping in the Foreseeable Future
title_short A Study on the Limitations of Green Alternative Fuels in Global Shipping in the Foreseeable Future
title_sort study on the limitations of green alternative fuels in global shipping in the foreseeable future
topic batteries
biofuels
gravimetric energy density
green ammonia
green methanol
green hydrogen
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/13/1/79
work_keys_str_mv AT janemblemsvag astudyonthelimitationsofgreenalternativefuelsinglobalshippingintheforeseeablefuture
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