France Carbon Tax
Date: 2019-10-18
According to a Reuters report, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire is calling for a tax on maritime shipping and aviation fuels as part of a drive to reduce carbon emissions. The proposed tax would complement plans supported by France and Germany for a carbon border tax that would shield European companies from competition from countries with lower emissions standards.

The Finance Minister noted France would also review its public export guarantees in line with its Paris Climate Agreement commitment to stop financing coal-related projects that increase the growth of carbons emissions. (Source: ShipInSight, Reuters, 17 Oct., 2019) Contact: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Le_Maire

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Neste
Date: 2019-08-16
Helsinki-headquartered Neste, the world's largest producer of renewable diesel fuel reports it will introduce Neste Marine 0.5 , a new fuel before the year end.

The new fuel will help maritime shippers comply with the International Maritime Organization's 2020 sulfur cap of 0.5 pct to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions, effective 1 Jan, 2020. Neste Marine 0.5, which is manufactured at the company's refinery in Porvoo, Finland, will be available at yet to be announced locations in Northwest Europe.

In other Neste news, the company announced it is partnering with Valdosta, Georgia-based McCall Companies to distribute its branded Neste MY Renewable Diesel in Oregon, which implemented clean fuels standards in 2016. (Source: Neste, Biodiesel Mag., 15 Aug., 2019) Contact: Neste, +358 10 458 4128, www.neste.com; McCall Companies CEO Kevin Jones, CEO, 229.242.2551, Fax - 229.244.8358, mail@mccallinc.com, www.mccallinc.com

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C-Job, Marine Fuel,Alternative Fuel
Date: 2019-06-14
According to research from the Netherlands-based ship design and engineering firm C-Job Naval Architects, ammonia can be used as an alternative marine fuel to reduce harmful maritime ship emissions. The research is based on a new concept design of an ammonia carrier powered by the gas as its own cargo.

In 2017, C-Job Naval Architects established a consortium with Proton Ventures and Enviu to investigate ammonia as marine fuel. It further joined Ammonia Energy Association in 2018 to study the topic. With the completion of this theoretical research, C-Job Naval Architects is now moving towards the next phases, which includes laboratory testing, pilot and evaluation.

C-Jobs Naval Architects noted that with the IMO aiming to reduce total annual greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 pct by 2050 compared to 2008 and eventually fully eliminate harmful emissions, the global maritime industry will need to seriously look into renewable fuels like hydrogen, ammonia and methanol. (Source: C-Job Naval Architects, Seatrade, 13 June, 2019) Contact: C-Job Naval Architects, Niels de Vries, +31 (0)88 02 43 700, info@c-job.com, www.c-job.com; Proton Ventures, +31 10 426 7275, www.protonventures.com/en; Ammonia Energy Association, www.nh3fuelassociation.org

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Methanol
Date: 2019-03-18
In the Netherlands, a consortium of Dutch maritime companies supported by the Maritime Knowledge Centre have joined forces to form the Green Maritime Methanol project to investigate the feasibility of methanol as a sustainable maritime transport fuel.

The Green Maritime Methanol project is supported by TKI Maritime and the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs and will be completed within two years.

Shipowners Boskalis, the Royal Netherlands Navy, Van Oord and Wagenborg Shipping will take part in the consortium, together with a number of Dutch shipbuilders, including superyacht builders Damen Shipyards and Feadship, as well as engine manufacturers Wartsila and Pon Power.

Some of the Netherlands' leading research institutes including TNO, TU Delft, NLDA and Marin will invest and provide knowledge-building and research capacity for the project by studying operational profiles, ship configurations, engine configurations, performances, various emissions as well as many other relevant topics. (Source: Superyacht News, Mar., 2019) Contact: Maritime Knowledge Centre, www.maritimeinfo.org

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Methanol Institute
Date: 2018-10-24
The Washington-based Methanol Institute is reporting the findings of the MethaShip Research Project which has concluded that renewable Methanol offers a long term solution for the maritime shipping industry's carbon emission reduction strategy.

The MethaShip research found that Methanol can offer a dramatic improvement in emissions reduction across multiple ship types once the IMO has established the statutory framework conditions necessary for an industry-wide reduction of CO2 emissions.

The MethaShip research project concluded that: the properties of Methanol surpass other alternative fuels in shipping; the major benefit is the storage at ambient temperature and ambient pressure without loss; in terms of ship design, Methanol is space-saving, simple and practical with the established advantages of a liquid fuel; methanol offers compelling environmental properties and has the most promising lifecycle analysis when produced from renewable sources; and an already widespread availability could be a key enabler for methanol. (Source: The Methanol Institute, Shipping News, 23 Oct., 2018) Contact: Methanol Institute, (703) 248-3636, www.methanol.org

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GoodFuels
Date: 2018-09-14
In Amsterdam, GoodFuels Marine is reporting its GoodShipping Program, which claims to be the world's first global initiative established to decarbonize shipping through the use of sustainable low carbon marine fuels, has enabled five pioneering shippers -- Tony's Chocolonely, Dopper, Blygold, Magic Marine and Mystic -- to collectively cut their carbon footprint by over 40 tons through the use of GoodFuels Marine's advanced, sustainable marine fuel.

The five shippers have also reduced local emissions of sulphur oxide (SOx), nitrogen oxide (NOx), and particulate matter (PM). When combined, emissions of these substances from vessels in port regions lead to over 60,000 premature deaths globally each year, according to researchers from the University of Delaware.

The GoodShipping Program , which requires shippers to commit to a reduction in their sea freight CO2 emissions, works on the premise that as all CO2 from container shipping is emitted into the same atmosphere, the means of mitigating these emissions is equally impactful, regardless of which vessels adopt biofuels over traditional bunker fuels -- or the amount of "drop in" biofuel that is added to the fuel tank, as long as it offsets the CO2 costs of transporting participating shippers' cargo. (Source: GoodFuels, Marine link, 13 Sept., 2018)Contact: GoodFuels, Dirk Kronemeijer, CEO, +31 (0) 85 8000 238, info@goodfuels.com, www.goodfuels.com

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SUMMETH
Date: 2018-06-01
The Sustainable Marine Methanol (SUMMETH) research project is reporting that methanol offers immediate environmental benefits and a zero-carbon pathway and that there are no obstacles to the efficient use of methanol in converted diesel engines of small maritime ferries and coastal craft. The SUMMETH research switching to methanol would offer close to zero SOx and particulate matter emissions and significantly lower NOx emissions compared to conventional marine fuels or biodiesel.

SUMMETH also concluded that there are no barriers to bunkering the ferries, since this is already carried out by truck and could easily be switched from diesel to methanol, enabling the ferry operator to immediately reduce particulate emissions and progressively reduce carbon emissions as renewable methanol becomes available.

The SUMMETH research programme was conducted by SSPA, ScandiNAOS, Marine Benchmark, Lund University, the Swedish Transport Administration Road Ferries, Scania, SMTF and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland with the support from the MARTEC II network and co-funding by the Swedish Maritime Administration, Region Vastra Gotaland, Oiltanking and the Methanol Institute. (Source: SUMMETH, Bunkering, May, 2018) Contact: SUMMETH, +46 31 772 90 66, www.summeth.marinemethanol.com/?page=home; Swedish Maritime Administration, www.sjofartsverket.se/en; VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, www.vttresearch.com

More Low-Carbon Energy News Marine Methanol,  Methanol,  Biofuel,  Maritime Fuel,