Editorial comment
As the maritime industry continues to adapt to more stringent regulatory frameworks aimed at curtailing shipping’s carbon emissions, the need to adopt low-carbon fuel alternatives is becoming an even greater priority. However, many persisting barriers hamper the adoption of low-carbon fuels – barriers such as the limited availability of green fuels to meet the significant demand, not just within the maritime industry, but across all transportation modalities; the significant cost that is involved for both shipowners and operators compared to fossil fuel counterparts; and the challenges that arise when considering the complex dynamics of fuel supply across the entire value chain.
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The current fragmentation of the green fuel supply chain is significant. To bring green fuels to the maritime market, we will need action on multiple fronts: increasing access to available feedstocks, accelerating sustainable fuel production, and developing transport links alongside bunkering infrastructure, all of which represent substantial challenges. However, low-carbon fuels are only one piece of the decarbonisation puzzle. As a result, it is vital that more immediate operational measures and energy efficiency technologies are leveraged.
A recent study by Bureau Veritas (BV), which modelled potential decarbonisation trajectories for shipping, highlights that embracing practical solutions such as reducing speed, voyage optimisation, and weather routing could have a cumulative impact on reducing shipping’s carbon emissions.1 The study suggested that under a ‘central progressive’ scenario, which would see moderate growth in maritime transport and a large uptake of bio and synthetic fuels, implementing measures such as reducing speed and waiting times could reduce total greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted in the atmosphere by 44% for the period between 2020 – 2050. Alongside these practical solutions, the study stated that the development of carbon insetting methodologies represented an opportunity to help mitigate the cost of green fuel adoption, whilst connecting actors willing to pay a green premium across the global value chain.
Carbon insets allow energy providers, owners, carriers, and forwarders to share the cost of carbon reduction projects with the end customer, the wider market, or subsidise their decarbonised transport through verified carbon claims. Based on reliable assurance verification, this flexible methodology allows for an acceleration of low-carbon initiatives, providing an opportunity for operators to share the cost of decarbonisation.
Moreover, the use of digital platforms to record and verify the validity of the inset certificates helps to address supply chain fragmentation, by connecting a variety of stakeholders, including fuel buyers and suppliers. This removes geographical barriers that arise from sourcing through physical supply chains, bringing the supply and demand actors of low-carbon fuel development together.
Carbon insetting is a solution that holds significant potential in developing a more unified supply chain that will ultimately accelerate the adoption of low-carbon fuels. However, the obstacles that the industry faces in achieving the IMO’s greenhouse gas emissions targets are complex and multifaceted. That is why a decarbonised future will not be achieved without an unprecedented level of cooperation that extends beyond the maritime sector. To support this cross-industry collaboration, BV has established the Future Shipping Team (FST), which consolidates the expertise from the various sectors of the BV Group, to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and research. It is BV’s hope that initiatives such as the FST will be replicated on a much broader scale in order to achieve the industry’s decarbonisation ambitions.
References:
‘Decarbonization trajectories’, Bureau Veritas, (29 February 2024), https://marine-offshore.bureauveritas.com/newsroom/decarbonization-trajectories.
