MEPC80/IFN.10 - REDUCTION OF GHG EMISSIONS FROM SHIPS - Report on the study on the readiness and availability of low- and zero-carbon ship technology and marine fuels
The IMO has recently released document MEPC80/INF.10 which is attached. This document contains, in the annex, the summary report of the draft final "Study on the readiness and availability of low- and zero-carbon ship technology and marine fuels" undertaken by Ricardo and DNV for the IMO Future Fuel and Technology Project (FFT Project). The study was commissioned in response to the request by MEPC 77 with a view to supporting the revision process of the Initial IMO GHG Strategy and was discussed recently at ISWG-GHG14.
1)Achieving a more ambitious decarbonization pathway than business as usual is not seen as being limited by the technical and commercial readiness of candidate fuels and technologies, nor infrastructure and shipyard readiness.
2)While candidate fuels are and will be more expensive than currently used fuels, this is not a barrier to their uptake for the shipping industry if the demand signal is clear.
3)A clear signal of demand is needed to enable sufficient availability of candidate fuels. That signal of demand could come from the forthcoming Revised IMO GHG Strategy setting revised levels of ambition in combination with the policies needed to drive the transition to the revised ambition.
4)All three decarbonization scenarios (50%, 80% and 100% GHG reduction by 2050) considered in this study are expected to be feasible in 2040 and in 2050 if policies to deliver an increased level of ambition are implemented in the short term.
5)Considering that the planned investments and announced projects on candidate fuel production towards 2030 are still conservative, achieving a possible 2030 target of 45% GHG reduction in the 100% reduction scenario could be challenging. Hence, a clear demand signal and more ambitious policies are needed very soon to come into effect by 2025 in order to meet the 2030 target of this scenario.