Future Ship Power Study: Great Potential for Emission Reductions

Sir John Parker said the industry must prepare for the new future.

There is "great potential" for emission reductions in shipping, but no single solution will fit all vessels, according to a new report by the U.K.'s Royal Academy of Engineering.

The report considered options including liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkers, battery power, alternative fuels, and nuclear power, addressing both fuel efficiency and environmental sustainability.

John Carlton, a professor of marine engineering at City University London who led the research effort, said there was no single obvious "winner" in terms of a medium- to long-term technical solution.

"We know that larger ships are more carbon-efficient than smaller ships and that slower ship speeds effectively reduce emissions," he said.

"But fitting smaller engines in large ships may increase the risk of being under-powered in bad weather.

"Often there is significant benefit in simple operational measures: good seamanship in steering around bad weather for instance, or good housekeeping in minimising on-board energy consumption."

In the short term, the researchers said LNG is relatively easy to adopt thanks to standards and technical knowledge in place within the shipping industry, despite the challenges of building LNG infrastructure, while wind and solar energy may be appropriate auxiliary power sources.

In the medium and long term, biofuels and synthetic fuels have promise, but their use depends on storage, handling, and environmental impact issues, while fuel cells and nuclear power could be adapted if ship engineering challenges can be addressed.

In the even longer term, hydrogen is also seen as an option, but there are "significant" infrastructure and technology issues involved in its adoption.

The report says more research and funding is needed to move sustainable shipping concepts forward.

"The industry must prepare for the new future and investigate alternative, more economic ship propulsion systems," said Royal Academy President Sir John Parker.

The European Union (EU) has been pushing to create the infrastructure for LNG bunker adoption across Europe.