The shipping industry emits 3% of greenhouse gases (GHG). In order to contain the increase in temperature, like other sectors, it will have to decarbonize. How ? Thanks to green hydrogen.
The scene, which takes place in Belgium, between Antwerp and Kruibeke, was reported by the BBC at the end of 2020. A small ferry sails using a fuel that many believe to be the future. This fuel, tested onHydrovillea small 16-passenger boat, is hydrogen. L’Hydroville was launched in 2017. It is the first passenger ship using hydrogen. Roy Campe, management director at CMB Tech, the R&D branch of CMB which owns theHydrovilleexplains: “We decided to take the plunge. We had to start using it even though there was no demand yet. We had to start at this time to ensure that we are able to build low-emission buildings ten years later. It’s not something instantaneous. »
Since then, CMB has built other hydrogen boats, including an 80-passenger ferry for the Japanese market.
Diane Gilpin, founder of the Smart Green Shipping Alliance, points out that small ships are ideal grounds for testing clean technologies that will then be applied to large commercial vessels. Maritime transport emits 3% of GHGs, which is ultimately low, but these emissions could rise to 50% by 2050, according to projections from the International Maritime Organization.
In 2018, several governments called for a reduction of GHGs by half by 2050, but the industry is quite slow to put measures in place.
Moving a huge ship requires a lot of energy. There are more and more large ships plying the seas as international trade continues to grow. To reduce emissions, several solutions exist: better design of ships, new technologies to capture the wind, reduction of speed to save fuel or even less transport of goods on boats.
CMB’s hydrogen program is just one example among others. Many companies are testing how hydrogen, and other fuels produced from hydrogen, such as ammonia and methanol, could be used as low-carbon fuels for the shipping industry of the future. These so-called “synthetic” fuels are promising because they are produced using clean electricity, that is to say itself produced by solar panels or wind turbines, but also because they are burned without emitting any emissions. GES.
This is notably the case of Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company, which announced in 2018 its intention to embark on carbon-free operations from 2050 (and to reduce its emissions by 60% from 2030). Other companies have followed suit, such as Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA CGM, companies which are investing heavily in carbon-neutral technologies.
Private sector commitments are encouraged (or forced) by those made by governments. In December 2019, the European Union committed to extending the emissions trading system to maritime transport. This is expected to take effect in 2022. In the United States, President Biden’s climate plan was expected to lead to an international agreement to reduce overall emissions from shipping.
Why hydrogen?
Hydrogen is not the only alternative in fuels. Biofuels, produced from agricultural waste for example, are others. On the other hand, most of their production, which is limited, is used in other sectors. However, in 2019, Maersk sailed a carbon-neutral ship between Rotterdam and Shanghai, round trip, with 20% biofuel.
Rechargeable batteries using renewable electricity could also be an attractive option. On the other hand, they are not powerful enough to supply energy to very large ships crossing the oceans.
That leaves hydrogen and other synthetic fuels. A study published by the Global Maritime Forum in March 2021 examined 106 zero-emission projects for maritime transport. Half of these projects involved hydrogen, describing it as a low-carbon fuel source. This energy also benefits from a huge advantage: it is easy to adapt ships to fuel cells. Thus, hydrogen could replace current fuels in 43% of trips between the United States and China without any changes, and in 99% of trips with minor changes, in operations or engine capabilities.
But other avenues are being explored. The British company Steamology, for example, does not use a fuel cell or the electrolysis system. Hydrogen is burned with pure oxygen. This turns a turbine which generates electricity. This technology is already tested on trains and has great potential for maritime transport.
The fact remains that most hydrogen is produced with fossil fuels. In fact, 6% of global natural gas production and 2% of global coal production are used to produce hydrogen. This is used for maritime transport, which effectively meets its “zero emissions” objective, but without being low carbon. In fact, 95% of the 70 million tonnes of hydrogen produced per year are so-called “gray” hydrogen. Each kilo of hydrogen produced produces 10 kg of CO2.
So-called “blue” hydrogen is produced with “carbon capture, utilization and storage” (CCUS) technology. As a result, 50 to 90% of CO emissions2 are captured, i.e. 5 to 9 kg of CO2 per kilo of hydrogen produced.
Hydrogen can also be produced without fossil fuels, using renewable energy with the electrolysis process. This is “green” hydrogen. This process is expensive and only 0.1% of hydrogen is produced this way. “Green hydrogen can truly be emission-free throughout its cycle, that is to say from the extraction of the fuel to its combustion, including its production,” says Marie Hubatova, an expert in maritime transport within the Environmental Defense Fund.
The problem today is the availability of green hydrogen. Xiaoli Mao, researcher at the International Council Clean Transportation, indicates that fuel producers “wait until there is demand before investing in the production of green hydrogen, so we are faced with the problem of “the “the chicken or the egg”, knowing who, maritime transport or fuel producers, will develop their technology first”.
For its part, CMB, by building its own hydrogen refueling stations for its cars, buses and ships, is acting as a pioneer. These stations will produce hydrogen by electrolysis. Roy Campe emphasizes that the objective is also to show that there is a real business project around green hydrogen produced by electrolysis. Create demand, in short.
The benefits and challenges for maritime transport
Nearly 70 million tonnes of hydrogen are produced each year for industrial use around the world. The United States alone produces 10 million tonnes. The hydrogen market is expected to grow as private companies and governments seek to increase production capacity. There is a very strong demand for clean energy. Germany, for example, hopes to develop electrolyzers for green hydrogen for domestic use with a capacity of 10 gigawatts by 2040.
On the other hand, hydrogen can be stored in large quantities over long periods of time. This is very beneficial for the transport sector in general and the maritime transport sector in particular.
Blue hydrogen and green hydrogen show promise for maritime transportation and GHG reduction. In addition, fuel cells are relatively silent, thus limiting noise pollution, and only release water vapor and oxygen into the air.
Regarding the challenges, the biggest is financial. Gray hydrogen costs $1 to $2 per kilo, which is reasonable and therefore competitive. On the other hand, this type of hydrogen does not drastically reduce GHG emissions. Blue hydrogen is 30-80% more expensive than gray, but green costs four times more than gray. However, the retail price of blue or green hydrogen should fall at the same time as that of renewable electricity. Governments must promote and encourage private investment in green hydrogen and its technologies, and develop infrastructure for the refueling and transport of blue hydrogen and green hydrogen to make them more competitive with gray .
Despite the challenge of its cost, hydrogen is undoubtedly the most promising option for maritime transport. Many leading companies in this sector, but also in the energy sector, have understood this and have started to invest in R&D to reduce production costs and explore trends and developments. However, it is obvious that governments will have to massively support the sector to significantly reduce the very high cost of green hydrogen and make it as competitive as traditional fuels.
In 2020, a study commissioned by the International Council on Clean Transportation determined that the cost of producing green hydrogen could be halved by 2050 in the United States and Europe thanks to financial advantages allowing promote R&D. Likewise, a carbon tax of $50 per ton of CO2 would allow blue hydrogen to be more competitive than gray.
Already, the new regulations from the International Maritime Organization that came into force in 2020 and set the sulfur level in fuel at 0.5% (compared to 3.5% previously) have pushed companies to explore this hydrogen option. The Global Maritime Forum study showed that hydrogen pilot projects tripled between 2019 and 2021. Some companies have improved their own emissions regulation, such as all companies operating ferries in the Norwegian fjords, who have decided to be zero emissions from 2026.
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Maersk and methanol container ships In December 2021, Maersk, the world leader in regular shipping, presented synthetic images of its future container ships sailing using green methanol. Interestingly, the tubs will not encroach on the cargo space. Future 16,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) container ships will therefore be powered by green methanol, but also by fuel oil with a low sulfur content (less than 0.5%). The buildings were ordered in August 2021 from the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), for deliveries scheduled for 2023 and 2024. The ships will be 350 meters long and 53.3 meters wide, with 21 rows of containers. Thanks to a larger volume than the old ones and 15,282 TEUs, they will have additional space for one more bay of containers. The methanol propulsion was developed by the industrial consortium consisting of MAN ES, Hyundai and Alfa Laval. In order not to lose space for cargo, the gangway and accommodation areas have been moved to the front of the building and the engine exhaust gases are discharged from the rear, on the port side, via an asymmetrical funnel . This new series of ships will fly the Danish flag and be classified by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). To finance this project, Maersk issued a first green bond of 564 million euros over ten years. The company expects earnings before interest and taxes of nearly $20 billion. Maersk has also become a shareholder in the start-up WasteFuel which produces green fuels and in particular biomethanol. There remains the question of supply. The production of green methanol from green hydrogen and CO2 captured is very expensive. Maersk anticipates a cost of green methanol equal to that of conventional fuel, i.e. $2,000 per tonne, considering that two tonnes of methanol are equivalent to one tonne of fuel oil with 3.5% sulfur content. |
