Page 156 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΟΚΤΩΒΡΙΟΣ 2024

MARINE FUELS

Panos Zachariadis maintains the opinion that About eight years ago, I was reading every-
shipping’s decarbonisation requires the use of where that the use of natural gas (LNG) as
new technologies, as the fuel options being put fuel on ships emits 25% less CO into the
2
forward are not a realistic solution. atmosphere compared to conventional
fuels. Thus, its use was being promoted,
more or less, as a panacea. However, when
I looked for scientific studies on the actual
effect of natural gas on global warming, I
found out that the studies did not agree at
all with what was being promoted by nearly
everyone in the shipping industry, including
Classification Societies.
Through my own research, I discovered that
the claim of “25% less CO emissions” was
2
far from the truth. In reality, the emissions
of LNG-powered engines are much worse
than those of diesel fuel, due to methane
UNFORTUNATELY, slip. In the best-case scenario, in the newest
NOT EVEN engines, their emissions may be compara-
ble to those of diesel or heavy oil-powered
engines. In any case, when considering
GREEN FUELS the lifecycle emissions – i.e. the leaks of
unburnt natural gas into the atmosphere,
especially during its extraction, which aver-
WILL SAVE US ages 5-6% globally – it becomes evident
that the use of natural gas is disastrous for
the environment. The effect of every kilo-
gram of natural gas that escapes into the
atmosphere is equivalent to about 86 kg
of CO over the first 20 years and approxi-
2
mately 30 kg of CO over a century. More-
2
over, studies indicate that if methane leaks
exceed 3%, then using natural gas is even
more detrimental than using coal. While
production companies admit to leaks of
only 1 to 2%, several independent studies
and actual measurements suggest other-
wise, with figures for shale gas reporting
leaks of as much as 17% in some fields.
Today, LNG producers and suppliers are
hesitant to talk about LNG’s global warm-
ing impact and have settled on promoting
it only as a transitional fuel. Meanwhile,
the general public has become much more
aware of its true impact on global warm-
ing. The World Bank advises against new
LNG investments due to the risk of them
becoming stranded assets, while environ-
mental organisations warn that “switching
to LNG is worse than doing nothing”. Nat-
urally, I feel vindicated, as eight years ago I
was amongst the few who raised concerns
about the use of LNG by reporting the find-
ings of various scientific studies.
by Panos Zachariadis, Nevertheless, legislators, the IMO, and the
Technical Director European Union do not want to “kill” LNG
of Atlantic Bulk Carriers Management Ltd
as a maritime fuel because there are simply

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