Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment for Using Alternative Marine Fuels: A Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Case Study
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set decarbonisation goals for the shipping industry. As a result, shipowners and operators are preparing to use low- or zero-carbon alternative fuels. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emission performances are fundamental for choosing suitable marine fuels....
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/10/12/1969 |
| _version_ | 1797456879170879488 |
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| author | Jinjin Huang Hongjun Fan Xiangyang Xu Zheyu Liu |
| author_facet | Jinjin Huang Hongjun Fan Xiangyang Xu Zheyu Liu |
| author_sort | Jinjin Huang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set decarbonisation goals for the shipping industry. As a result, shipowners and operators are preparing to use low- or zero-carbon alternative fuels. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emission performances are fundamental for choosing suitable marine fuels. However, the current regulations adopt tank-to-wake (TTW) emission assessment methods that could misrepresent the total climate impacts of fuels. To better understand the well-to-wake (WTW) GHG emission performances, this work applied the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to a very large crude carrier (VLCC) sailing between the Middle East and China to investigate the emissions. The life cycle GHG emission impacts of using alternative fuels, including liquified natural gas (LNG), methanol, and ammonia, were evaluated and compared with using marine gas oil (MGO). The bunkering site of the VLCC was in Zhoushan port, China. The MGO and LNG were imported from overseas, while methanol and ammonia were produced in China. Four production pathways for methanol and three production pathways for ammonia were examined. The results showed that, compared with MGO, using fossil energy-based methanol and ammonia has no positive effect in terms of annual WTW GHG emissions. The emission reduction effects of fuels ranking from highest to lowest were full solar and battery-based methanol, full solar and battery-based ammonia, and LNG. Because marine ammonia-fuelled engines have not been commercialised, laboratory data were used to evaluate the nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions. The GHG emission reduction potential of ammonia can be exploited more effectively if the N<sub>2</sub>O emitted from engines is captured and disposed of through after-treatment technologies. This paper discussed three scenarios of N<sub>2</sub>O emission abatement ratios of 30%, 50%, and 90%. The resulting emission reduction effects showed that using full solar and battery-based ammonia with 90% N<sub>2</sub>O abatement performs better than using full solar and battery-based methanol. The main innovation of this work is realising the LCA GHG emission assessment for a deep-sea ship. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:14:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a487f291f4c44db5b8daf3b7f26f7df6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1312 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:14:08Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-a487f291f4c44db5b8daf3b7f26f7df62023-11-24T15:57:25ZengMDPI AGJournal of Marine Science and Engineering2077-13122022-12-011012196910.3390/jmse10121969Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment for Using Alternative Marine Fuels: A Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Case StudyJinjin Huang0Hongjun Fan1Xiangyang Xu2Zheyu Liu3Merchant Ship Department, Marine Design and Research Institute of China (MARIC), Shanghai 200011, ChinaC-LNG Solutions Pte. Ltd., Singapore 608526, SingaporeC-LNG Solutions Pte. Ltd., Singapore 608526, SingaporeNaval Architecture and Shipping College, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, ChinaThe International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set decarbonisation goals for the shipping industry. As a result, shipowners and operators are preparing to use low- or zero-carbon alternative fuels. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emission performances are fundamental for choosing suitable marine fuels. However, the current regulations adopt tank-to-wake (TTW) emission assessment methods that could misrepresent the total climate impacts of fuels. To better understand the well-to-wake (WTW) GHG emission performances, this work applied the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to a very large crude carrier (VLCC) sailing between the Middle East and China to investigate the emissions. The life cycle GHG emission impacts of using alternative fuels, including liquified natural gas (LNG), methanol, and ammonia, were evaluated and compared with using marine gas oil (MGO). The bunkering site of the VLCC was in Zhoushan port, China. The MGO and LNG were imported from overseas, while methanol and ammonia were produced in China. Four production pathways for methanol and three production pathways for ammonia were examined. The results showed that, compared with MGO, using fossil energy-based methanol and ammonia has no positive effect in terms of annual WTW GHG emissions. The emission reduction effects of fuels ranking from highest to lowest were full solar and battery-based methanol, full solar and battery-based ammonia, and LNG. Because marine ammonia-fuelled engines have not been commercialised, laboratory data were used to evaluate the nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O) emissions. The GHG emission reduction potential of ammonia can be exploited more effectively if the N<sub>2</sub>O emitted from engines is captured and disposed of through after-treatment technologies. This paper discussed three scenarios of N<sub>2</sub>O emission abatement ratios of 30%, 50%, and 90%. The resulting emission reduction effects showed that using full solar and battery-based ammonia with 90% N<sub>2</sub>O abatement performs better than using full solar and battery-based methanol. The main innovation of this work is realising the LCA GHG emission assessment for a deep-sea ship.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/10/12/1969life cycle assessmentgreenhouse gasMGOLNGmethanolammonia |
| spellingShingle | Jinjin Huang Hongjun Fan Xiangyang Xu Zheyu Liu Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment for Using Alternative Marine Fuels: A Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Case Study Journal of Marine Science and Engineering life cycle assessment greenhouse gas MGO LNG methanol ammonia |
| title | Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment for Using Alternative Marine Fuels: A Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Case Study |
| title_full | Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment for Using Alternative Marine Fuels: A Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Case Study |
| title_fullStr | Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment for Using Alternative Marine Fuels: A Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Case Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment for Using Alternative Marine Fuels: A Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Case Study |
| title_short | Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment for Using Alternative Marine Fuels: A Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Case Study |
| title_sort | life cycle greenhouse gas emission assessment for using alternative marine fuels a very large crude carrier vlcc case study |
| topic | life cycle assessment greenhouse gas MGO LNG methanol ammonia |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/10/12/1969 |
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