The 2050 deadline for net-zero and the removal of emissions from heavy industries such as shipping will not be possible without carbon capture technology, the CEO of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has claimed.
Shipping. Credit: Avigator Fortuner / Shutterstock
Like many other sectors, shipping has pledged to be net-zero by 2050. Image credit: Avigator Fortuner / Shutterstock
Speaking at the Posidonia International Shipping Exhibition in Athens last week, the firm's chairman, president and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki warned that it would "not be possible" for the shipping sector to meet its green targets if it is not actively looking to remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
The rapid development of these technologies, which are planned to offset the so-called "hard-to-abate" sectors where it is impossible not to burn emissions, will be a "decisive factor" in the shipping sector reaching its sustainability targets, he said.
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“Carbon capture is going to be a key technology for shipping to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050", Wiernecki said.
ABS chairman and CEO, Christopher J. Wiernecki. Image credit: American Bureau of Shipping
"It will be critical to address the challenge before us, which is the sheer gradient of the curve. At the moment we can only see the outline of a solution to get us to 2050. But it is clear already that net-zero cannot realistically be delivered without efficient carbon capture and storage technology".
He said that while the industry will continue to push for alternative fuels such as hydrogen, the sheer amount of renewable energy needed to decarbonise the entire sector may mean fossil fuels see use past the deadlines. In essence, without the use of the tech to sequester this carbon, net-zero by 2050 will be impossible.
He estimates as much as 10-times more renewable energy will be needed to meet net-zero goals. These include renewable fuels such as green hydrogen, green ammonia, green methane and methanol.
"Shipping’s new fuel story is only just starting to be written. The next ten years will determine which fuels will have a seat at the table based on their availability and scalability, safety, pricing, infrastructure maturity, ship type and trade routes", Wiernecki added.
He said that the sector is "entering a new era as regulation and technology drive transformation across the industry", and urged regulators to look at schemes such as the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) for guidance and on how to offer clarity on how these goals can be achieved.
He also mentioned this will aid in the goals of the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) - a metric detailing how efficient a ship transporting goods is, in terms of grams of carbon emitted per shipping capacity and nautical miles.
The metric was developed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) as a standard for the industry to allow it to immediately start slashing emissions while the relevant renewable technologies are developed. In short, it will allow them to alter ships to burn fewer emissions using similar hardware.
Use of the CII will be mandatory for associated shipping firms starting from 2023.
The global shipping sector has vowed to become zero-emission by 2050 in order to attempt to meet the goals laid out by the Paris Climate Agreement (PCA). This specifies that global powers will try to prevent temperatures from rising by at least 2°C, with an extra goal of limiting it by 1.5°C.
Carbon capture is often touted as a technology to allow the world to become "carbon negative", meaning that it could be used to bring carbon dioxide levels to the same as or below levels seen prior to the Industrial Revolution. This could also bring overall global temperatures down and "reserve" climate change, in theory.
However, as entirely removing emissions from sectors such as shipping or construction may be impossible due to how their operations work, it may also be necessary to capture any and all carbon emitted.
“We are in the early innings of a decade of change", Wiernecki said. " CII is going to start to bring the industry together and then the introduction of market-based measures is going to redefine commercial relationships. Meanwhile, regulators have some homework to do.
"The industry needs consistency, and the challenge now is to lock down the CII code. Is it tank-to-wake or well-to-wake? We need to know. There are some big decisions hinging on that issue. At the same time, existing regulations such as SOLAS must be modernised.
“Shipping will be challenged, and it is going to have to rely on its greatest strength: its pragmatic, pioneering, resilient and innovative mindset and personality", he concluded.
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Shipping companies have looked to various forms of alternative fuel in a bid to bring emissions down. While hydrogen appears to be the go-to option, some companies have been looking into other alternatives, such as biofuels.
This has meant that companies such as Norden are looking to power ships using cooking oil. A concept for a ship that could turn plastic waste into hydrogen has been proposed by H2 Industries.
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