Hamburg/London (dpa -AfX) – Green methanol can play a central role on the way to a climate -neutral shipping. According to the DLR Institute for Maritime Energy Systems on behalf of the environmental organization Greenpeace, by switching to this fuel, CO2 emissions over the entire life cycle of ships could be reduced by 96 percent.
Study: Green Methanol can show in the climate -friendly future
“Green Methanol can show shipping to a climate-friendly future,” said Greenpeace spokeswoman Clara Thompson of the German Press Agency with a view to the conference of the Environmental Committee of the International See-shipping organization IMO. The special organization of the United Nations from 176 countries wants to decide where the measures decided in 2023 should be implemented, according to which shipping is to be climate -neutral by 2050.
According to the examination, methanol, unlike hydrogen or ammonia, is easy to handle and technically ripe for use. The industrial alcohol can be produced with renewable energy climate -neutral and existing ship engines could be easily converted.
Shipping causes almost three percent of all greenhouse gases
The international shipping, which is currently almost exclusively with fossil fuels, causes around three percent of all greenhouse gases worldwide. In addition, there would be large amounts of harmful air pollutants such as embroidery or sulfur oxides. This was almost complete when switching to green methanol. In relation to ships driving in German waters, the study of the study would decrease by 9.2 million tons of CO2 – this was more emitted than in a city the size of Cologne per year.
On the other hand, the use of methanol is still expensive, “especially for the operation and acquisition of electrolysers,” says the study. Methanol also needs twice as large tanks so that ships create the same route as with fossil fuels. In addition: Green methanol has so far hardly been available on the fuel market. However, up to 5.73 million tons per year are necessary for the ships traveling in Germany. The diesel requirement, on the other hand, is 2.94 million tons.
Greenpeace for odds when using alternative fuels
“So that the changeover in shipping now takes up speed, the IMO should decide binding odds for the use of alternative fuels,” said Thompson. A CO2 price is also necessary, which depicts the climate parts of green methanol compared to fossil fuels. “Companies must be able to rely on investing in the production of green methanol in the long term.”/KLM/DP/NAS