Decarbonization in Shipping—The Hopes and Doubts on the Way to Hydrogen Use

Jerzy Herdzik () and Anna Lesnau
Additional contact information
Jerzy Herdzik: Faculty of Marine Engineering, Department of Marine Propulsion Plants, Gdynia Maritime University, 81-225 Gdynia, Poland
Anna Lesnau: Faculty of Marine Engineering, Department of Marine Propulsion Plants, Gdynia Maritime University, 81-225 Gdynia, Poland

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-17

Abstract: This article presents the initial processes of changing ship fuels aimed at reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. A significant reduction in GHG emissions is only possible by using carbon-free fuels. The process of reducing CO 2 emissions was forced by legal regulations introduced in recent years by the International Maritime Organization and the Parliament of the European Union. The year 2050 was set as the target year for achieving the intended goals, but intermediate goals should be achieved already in 2030 and 2040. This article attempts to analyze the ongoing changes in the fuel market in maritime transport on the way to achieving the threshold of climate neutrality with this form of transport. A number of hopes related to this were indicated but also so were obstacles that may slow down this process. In 2023, there was an increased interest among shipowners in adapting ship engines to burn more ecological ship fuels. However, it is far from our expectations. Meeting the gradually increasing emission limits through imposed regulations was possible in the years 2020–2023 by using dual-fuel engines in which gaseous fuels, mainly LNG and LPG, were used for long periods of operation. The next step is the use of biofuels or synthetic fuels, which, however, will not meet the requirements after 2030. Interest is moving towards the use of ammonia and, ultimately, after 2040, hydrogen. The aim of this article is to analyze the ongoing processes and assess the directions of changes that justify the sense of the actions taken.

Keywords: decarbonization process; marine fuels; transient fuels; biofuels; ammonia; hydrogen (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/18/4668/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/18/4668/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:18:p:4668-:d:1481183

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().