Collaboration key to green shipping corridors: APM

Market: Biofuels, Oil products
14/03/24

Collaboration between countries and stakeholders willing to find sustainable decarbonisation solutions is key to the success of green shipping corridors, said speakers at the Asia Pacific Maritime (APM) 2024 conference in Singapore.

Singapore has initiated green shipping corridors with the aim of helping energy transition in the maritime sector, said the assistant chief executive (industry and transformation) of the Maritime Port and Authority of Singapore Kenneth Lim, speaking at a keynote panel during the 13-15 March event. This follows the signing of an initial deal between Singapore and Australia on setting up the Green and Digital Shipping Corridor. There are an estimated 44 green shipping corridors that have been announced globally, most of which are at a planning stage.

The main deadlock to making green corridors operational remains, as it is unclear who will bear the burden of higher fuel costs, given the large price gap between conventional and alternative marine fuels, said the chief technology officer for energy and fuels at Denmark's Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping Torben Norgaard.

This gap can be filled either through a concept like the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance, a cargo owner-led alliance of major multinational companies working together to accelerate maritime shipping decarbonisation, or through regulation to allocate increased costs, such as putting a price on carbon.

The green corridors that have moved ahead the most are those where roles and responsibilities including cost allocation are clear and there is trust between stakeholders, such as in the EU, Norgaard added.

"Right now green corridors are primarily in the initiation and planning stages with operational green corridors on the horizon," said the head of decarbonisation at the UK-based Sustainable Shipping Initiative Andreea Miu. "Getting to that stage will depend on stakeholders working together to make concrete investments to enable the corridor."

Developing bunkering infrastructure, building or retrofitting vessels that can run on the chosen alternative fuels, along with the training of seafarers in the handling of new fuels, are some of the initiatives that the investments should be aimed at, Miu added.

But more importantly it is a "coalition of the willing who are willing and able to work together and operate in a very specific economy where they avoid too much interference", that is needed to enable the green shipping corridors, Norgaard said.

Looking ahead

The green corridors could help shipowners as fuel selection also remains a key hurdle, with unresolved safety concerns over alternative fuels like ammonia, APM panelists added.

It is important to consider how the volumetric energy density of alternative fuels is "way less" than that in fossil fuels, which would result in shipowners having to decide between carrying more fuel or bunkering more, and looking for more locations where they can bunker, said the chief technology officer of the Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation Sanjay Kuttan.

The next "super corridor for green fuels" could emerge between south India and east China's Ningbo/Zhoushan, where the two countries' collective 3bn population will create significant demand for vessels to do transshipments there, Sanjay said

By Mahua Chakravarty, Sarah Giam and Lauren Moffit

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17/11/24

Trump taps oil services head as US energy secretary

Washington, 17 November (Argus) — President-elect Donald Trump intends to nominate oil services company Liberty Energy's chief executive Chris Wright to lead the US Department of Energy (DOE), giving him oversight over LNG export facilities and a vast portfolio of federally-backed energy projects. Wright also will serve on Trump's planned Council of National Energy, which will oversee policies across the federal government affecting energy production, permitting, transportation and regulation. Trump said he wants Wright to work alongside North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, who Trump has nominated as US interior secretary, to oversee "the path to US ENERGY DOMINANCE" by cutting regulations and supporting investments from the private sector. "As Secretary of Energy, Chris will be a key leader, driving innovation, cutting red tape, and ushering in a new 'Golden Age of American Prosperity and Global Peace,'" Trump said. Liberty Energy, which was founded in 2011, focuses on hydraulic fracturing services and earned $1.2bn last year. Wright has downplayed the urgency for the world to address climate change or transition away from fossil fuels. He has criticized the use of phrases like "climate crisis" and "carbon pollution", which he says are impeding projects that could alleviate energy poverty. Those terms "are not only deceptive, they are in fact destructive deceptions," Wright said in a video he posted last year on YouTube. "Destructive because they drive centrist politicians and regulators to oppose life-critical infrastructure, like building pipelines and natural gas export terminals." If confirmed by the US Senate, Wright would be responsible for deciding how to resolve a "pause" on US LNG export licensing that President Joe Biden put in place in January. DOE has been studying whether allowing more gas exports would exacerbate climate change or hurt consumers by increasing domestic natural gas prices. The vast majority of DOE's budget goes to maintaining the US stockpile of nuclear weapons and cleaning up contaminated nuclear sites. DOE also manages the four facilities that make up the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which currently holds 387.8mn bl of crude, and oversees 17 national laboratories that are spread across the US. In the last four years, the US Congress substantially increased DOE's role in energy. DOE is currently managing billions of dollars in funds provided by the 2021 infrastructure law, such as an $8bn initiative meant to support "hydrogen hubs" and a $2.5bn carbon capture demonstration program. The Inflation Reduction Act expanded DOE authority to issue loans for clean energy projects by about $100bn. By Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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