EMEA News
UK: Port Roadmap Details Path for Alt Fuels, Bunkering
A study commissed by a UK port has produced a roadmap showing how alternative marine fuels could develop in the port and contribute to shipping decarbonisation.
The Clean Tyne Shipping Corridor roadmap has pulled together a number of partners to work how the Port of Tyne could develop clean shipping and benefit from the emerging 'green corridors' for European ports.
The report identifies alternative marine fuels with methanol selected by the study for development.
In the period 2023 to 2030, the port would encourage pilot projects using methanol bunker fuel while assessing the level of potential demand. In the next phase (2030 to 2040), methanol bunkering would become more visible in the ports by "securing sustainable supply agreements and developing bunkering and storage facilities", according to the roadmap.
Commenting on how ports might make the energy transition work in practice, the port's innovation manager, Eleni Bougioukou, said that the biggest challenge around alternative fuels is the price differential.
"One of the biggest challenges we have found is the current cost differential between conventional and zero emissions fuels," Bougioukou said.
That cost difference is hindering the pace of decarbonisation.
"There is a need for greater investment in research, innovation, and digital adoption to help improve technologies that increase productivity throughout green corridors, ensuring they generate a positive return on investment," she added.
Tyne port is a deepsea port on the northeast coast of the UK.
