Page 160 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΟΚΤΩΒΡΙΟΣ 2024

ALTERNATIVE FUELS

Gregory Dolan believes that the shipping industry – suppliers, buyers, and carriers
alike – needs to work together to achieve its green transition.

STRONGER REGULATION

NEEDED TO SPEED UP

UPTAKE OF GREEN FUELS

IN SHIPPING

The maritime industry is engaging with alternative and
renewable fuels, but stronger regulation and policy signals
are needed to accelerate the shift, writes Gregory Dolan, CEO
of the Methanol Institute.
The energy transition continues to occupy the attention of the
entire maritime supply chain, from commodity producers and
shipowners to ports and end consumers. This growing atten-
tion has also served to increase the focus on related challenges.
The IMO’s setting of binding targets for carbon emission and
carbon intensity reductions, together with nearer-term regu-
lation from the European Union, has seen first movers engage
with clean fuels and achieve cleaner operations.
So far, the transition has not always been smooth. Issues
around the availability of renewables and their price relative to
fossil fuels have proved that while some shippers are demand-
ing change, many owners prefer to wait for clearer signals.
Led by the major liner companies, the shipping industry’s
experience with alternative fuels is maturing, but many see
a clearer form of policy and regulation as the primary driver.
That phase of the transition is coming at speed. Owners and
operators trading with the European Union will begin to feel the
financial effects of its regulatory programme from 2025. They
will also see a change in the cost of compliance that should
encourage the further take up of clean fuels before 2030 and
well ahead of 2050.
None of this happens overnight or without friction. Shipping
has been a single fuel industry for more than a century, but
the future will look quite different.

Embracing a multi-fuel approach
The Methanol Institute (MI) views sustainability in shipping
as a multi-fuel journey rather than a binary choice between
fuels like methanol and LNG. Our goal is to achieve net-zero
by Gregory Dolan, emissions for shipping, and we believe that the core issue is
CEO of the Methanol Institute collaboration and not competition.

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