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Environmental analysis of methanol as an alternative marine fuel

Climate strategies and emission regulations are pushing the shipping industry towards the implementation of various decarbonization measures, among which the replacement of conventional marine fuels with alternative and cleaner one is highlighted as the most promising option to achieve emissions reduction in the shipping sector. Although many alternative marine fuels have lower carbon, nitrogen and sulphur content, compared to heavy fuel oil (HFO) or marine diesel oil (MDO), and their use as ship fuels results in lower tailpipe emissions, their environmental performance needs to be investigated from the life-cycle point of view. In this paper, the application of methanol is investigated since it is a widely investigated alternative fuel. Its environmental impact is analysed with Life-Cycle Assessment, where the CO2, NOX and SOX emissions released through the life-cycle of the different types of methanol (i.e. fossil methanol produced from natural gas, and six types of methanol produced from different biomass (willow, switchgrass, forest residue, corn stover, miscanthus and poplar)) implemented in a ship power system are investigated and compared to the life-cycle emissions of the diesel-powered ship. The results of the paper are illustrated on a ro-ro passenger ship engaged in the Croatian short-sea shipping sector, and they indicated that even fossil methanol achieve emission reduction by 31% of CO2, 80% of NOX, and 87% of SOX, compared to the emissions released from the diesel-powered ship. However, the most environmentally friendly fuel is the bio-methanol produced from forest residue, which results in 94% lower CO2 and 99% lower NOX and SOX emissions than emissions released from the diesel- powered ship.

environmental assessment ; ship power system ; methanol ; alternative marine fuel

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