Ammonia Body to Host Webinar Examining Marine Ecosystem Impact

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday February 23, 2023

The Ammonia Energy Association is set to host a webinar later this week examining the chemical's potential impact on marine ecosystems.

The event will be held online on February 24 at 11 AM GMT, the organisation said on its website. The webinar will bring together Marie Cabbia Hubatova of the Environmental Defense Fund, Samie Parkar of Lloyd's Register, a Ricardo PLC representative and Sofia Fürstenberg Stott of the Ammonia Energy Association.

"EDF, together with Ricardo and the LR Maritime Decarbonisation Hub, released the Ammonia at Sea report in late 2022," the organisation said on its website.

"Their analysis thoroughly explored everything currently known about ammonia's behaviour in the aquatic environment, and assessed the potential impact of the use of ammonia as a marine fuel.

"Focusing on large-scale, acute spill events, this pioneering report gives us a better understanding of what to expect & prepare for in the event of a large-scale incident, as well as identifying the current knowledge gaps."

Ammonia is widely expected to take up a significant share of the marine energy mix in future decades as the shipping industry works to eliminate its GHG emissions. But for now shipowners remain wary of its toxicity and the potential impact on shipping crews' health and the marine environment in the event of spills, and further research and development work will be needed into its safe handling as a bunker fuel.

For more information about the webinar, click here.