Ships powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which is presented as a clean and non-polluting fuel, do not actually represent any advantage for the atmosphere and they can even be more polluting than those propelled by fuel oil, according to research released by the entity Transpor & Environment, specialized in the impact of maritime traffic.
International maritime transport currently accounts for 3% of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere globally, a proportion similar to that produced by aviation. The UN has warned that, if no action is taken, by 2050 that percentage will have climbed to 17%.
With this warning on the table, as well as Europe’s non-binding demands for the shipbuilding industry to cut CO2 emissions from all ships by 40% by 2030 (compared to 2018 levels), the sector is is in a period of reconfiguration of its activity, starting with something as basic as the fuel that moves it.
And in this race to replace the traditional fuel for ships, liquefied natural gas (LNG) – natural gas in a liquid state – is gaining ground by leaps and bounds in recent years.
Although it is still a fossil fuel, benefits are attributed to liquefied natural gas, such as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide or fine particles.
Methane is the key
Faced with the proliferation of LNG as a ‘green’ alternative in maritime transport, the European organization Transport & Environment decided to investigate its real impact on greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. His conclusion is clear: liquefied natural gas is not only not the solution to climate change, but also contributes to accelerating it. The key? the methane.
T&E assures that, although the ‘eco’ ships that are propelled with LNG do not produce smog -dark toxic cloud-, are responsible for a serious emission “invisible to the naked eye & rdquor; of unburned methane, which leaks and ends up in the atmosphere, contributing to aggravating global warming.
The organization used an infrared camera with a special filter to detect hydrocarbon gases in the port of Rotterdam (Holland), the largest in Europe. With this equipment he studied the best-known greenhouse gas emissions of methane from ships.
TCHD Consulting, an expert in optical gas imaging, analyzed the images of the Ecodelta ship, as well as the giant Louvre container ship, CMA CGM, based in France. According to Transport & Environment, both vessels showed that they were releasing “intense & rdquor; emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, losses that occur in ship engines.
For this reason, Transport & Environment points out that almost 80% of the liquefied gas that is burned in ship engines generates more environmental problems than traditional engines that use fuel oil.
To explain it, they provide as visual evidence an image taken with the infrared camera in which the heat and gas emissions from the exhaust chimney of the engines of one of the ships analyzed can be seen.
As it moves away from the stack, the bright light fades, leaving behind a plume of gas, the unburned hydrocarbon emissions being given off. In LNG, 90% of its composition is usually methane, an agent harmful to the health of the planet, according to T&E, with a power of global warming 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide in a period of 20 years.perpetuate fossil fuels
Europe hides a dark secret in the sea. By promoting LNG ships, European leaders are irrevocably leading us to a future with a high dependency on this fossil fuel. As green as they may be painted, most LNG-powered ships on the market today are much more climate-damaging than fossil fuel ships which they are supposed to replace & rdquor ;, denounces the head of the Maritime Transport department of this organization, Delphine Gozillon.
With these results, Transport & Environment criticizes that the proliferation of LNG responds to pressure from the fossil gas sector to consolidate it as an “ecological” solution; minimizing the real extent of methane leaks.
The entity ensures that by 2025 two-thirds of the new ships that come afloat will work with LNGwhich will mean that one fifth of the fuel used in the European maritime sector in 2030, thus perpetuating the use of fossil fuels until 2040.
“We are in the midst of a climate crisis, we cannot afford to release more methane into the atmosphere. Our research is just a small sample, but it should serve as a warning to policymakers: favoring LNG is betting on the losing horse. Instead, we should prioritize 100% green solutions based entirely on green hydrogen,” adds Gozillon.
Source: https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/el-metano-que-escapa-de-los-barcos-propulsados-por-gas-natural-agrava-la-crisis-climatica-investigacion/
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