A coalition of shipping leaders is launching today to identify, accelerate and advocate technology solutions for the maritime industry to measure and manage methane emissions activity.
In doing so, the Methane Abatement in Maritime (MAM) Innovation Initiative aims to minimise the environmental impact of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in shipping, whilst aiding the transition to future fuel solutions.
Led by Safetytech Accelerator, established by Lloyd’s Register, MAM is a technology acceleration programme whose activities will initially be supported by seven partners: Maran Gas Maritime, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Carnival Corporation & Plc, Seaspan, Shell, Lloyd’s Register and Knutsen Group. It will also draw on the expertise of academics, civil society, and other stakeholders, such as the National Physical Laboratory.
In its first year, members will seek to identify and pilot new technologies to monitor and reduce ‘methane slip’ from vessels fueled by LNG. Once these solutions have been validated, the initiative will seek to endorse them to the industry in 2023.
The MAM Innovation Initiative will tackle how ship owners and operators can be encouraged to adopt proven abatement technology at a scale.
The initiative will be chaired by Panagiotis Mitrou, Lloyd’s Register’s Global Gas Director, and directed by Safetytech Accelerator’s Head of Partnerships, Steve Price.
The need to address methane slip
LNG has long been understood by the shipping industry as a bridging fuel to support its decarbonization efforts – with campaign groups forecasting that over two-thirds of new ships will be powered by LNG by 2025. Since 2010 the number of vessels fueled by LNG has grown consistently by 20-40% per annum.
Compared to traditional marine fuels, LNG is widely understood to generate less carbon dioxide (CO2) and emit less Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Sulphur Dioxide (Sox), and Particulate Matter (PM) for the same propulsion power.
However, some analysis has indicated that the environmental benefits of using LNG could be negated due to the propensity of LNG vessels to leak unburned methane through the combustion process.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, estimated to have a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 27-30 over 100 years, while CO2 has a GWP of 1 regardless of time-period used.
Defining what constitutes negligible methane emissions and ensuring the sector meets that target is a vital imperative for an industry grappling with its climate footprint and increasingly using LNG as a transition fuel.
There are no globally recognized methods for measuring methane slip, and a lack of available data and tools is contributing to the issue.
The new solutions identified by the innovation initiative are hoped to help industry understand the extent of and then manage its methane emissions activities.
Measuring the scale of methane emissions and understanding whether they can be managed to negligible levels will signal whether Liquefied Biomethane (LBM) and Liquefied Synthetic Methane (LSM) are viable pathway fuels to help achieve 2050 decarbonization targets.
Source: MAMII
