A new study by Transport & Environment (T&E), Europe’s clean transport campaign group, predicts that by 2030 Europe’s shipping industry will need more than 6.3 million metric tonnes of LNG to fuel its growing fleet of gas-powered ships and as a result, Europe will become more dependent on fossil fuels.
The 6.3 million metric tons is enough to power 7 million homes, according to T&E, which has described as “irresponsible” the move of the shipping industry to switch to LNG in times of energy crisis.
Constance Dijkstra, LNG campaigner at T&E, commented, “As families across Europe struggle to pay their energy bills, the shipping industry is looking for new ways to burn gas. By 2030 nearly a quarter of Europe’s shipping could be running on LNG at a time when we should be reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. This cannot be allowed to happen.”
Shipping is a huge source of carbon dioxide emissions, responsible for about the same amount of global emissions as aviation, according to T&E, which said that the counter-proposal of LNG is worse than the fuel it replaces, as it releases potent methane gas.
According to the study, Europe’s policymakers should also be worried about the impact the switch to LNG-powered shipping will have on energy security. T&E’s analysis shows that over 200,000 households could be supplied with the gas required to power today’s fleet of LNG-powered ships. With LNG set to power a quarter of EU shipping’s energy needs in 2030, the number of households could rise to 7 million – enough to heat all the homes in Belgium or Sweden.
T&E said the European Union (EU) can raise the climate ambitions of the FuelEU’s Maritime proposal – the EU’s main law on alternative fuels in shipping. Stricter greenhouse gas intensity reduction targets from 2035 onwards will reduce the compliance lifetime of fossil LNG-powered ships, as proposed by the European Parliament on 19 October, according to T&E, while European lawmakers also voted in favour of a 2% mandate for hydrogen-based green fuels – the first of its kind.
Constance Dijkstra concluded, “The EU should abandon plans to promote fossil gas in shipping and instead promote hydrogen-based green fuels.”
Currently, there are 171 LNG container vessels on order, while before four years only seven LNG boxhships were built.
