NGO to EU: Mandate Use of E-fuel Bunkers

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday February 16, 2022

Green lobby group Transport & Environment (T&E) has criticised the European Commission's (EC) approach to promoting alternative bunker fuels to shipping.

Sticking with the narrative that liquefied natural gas (LNG) works as a transitional fuel could increase the amount of methane going into the atmosphere, it said.

Current EC proposals give the green light to LNG use "well into the 2040s".

According to T&E's own study, "LNG will make up 23% of the total energy used in EU shipping by 2030, up from 6% today".

"Ships will have little or no incentive to switch to more sustainable alternatives such as green hydrogen or hydrogen-based fuels known as 'e-fuels'," the green lobby argued.

"Currently there is no mandate for e-fuels meaning shipowners can rely on fossil LNG and dubious biofuels to meet EU targets into the 2040s," it added.

The organisation favours a different approach. A mandated 6% target for shipping e-fuels by 2030 would be "the most straightforward way to ensure supply and demand for sustainable fuels, while providing business predictability to shipowners and fuel suppliers".