The green and low-carbon transformation of the shipping industry encounters multiple challenges, and the industry calls for increased financial support

Sunny Worldwide LogisticsIt is a logistics company with more than 20 years of transportation experience, specializing in Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, Southeast Asia and other markets. It is more of a cargo owner than a cargo owner~

The shipping industry has become an important source of emissions affecting air quality in port cities, especially near busy ports and waterways.

The shipping industry, which is responsible for more than 95% of foreign trade cargo transportation, also emits a large amount of atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gases. At present, the shipping industry is encountering multiple challenges in its green and low-carbon transformation, and the industry is calling for innovative multi-party cooperation in emission reduction models.

At the "2022 China Blue Sky Pioneer Forum" held on the 28th, Zhao Qingfeng, director of the Domestic Shipping Department of the China Shipowners Association, said, "Emission reduction is a fundamental change in the common living environment of the entire industry, and it is also a common challenge faced by the entire industry.' There is no way out."

Li Yue, chief engineer of the Environmental Resources Institute of the Planning and Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport, also said at the forum that the green and low-carbon transformation of my country's shipping industry will not only help achieve the "double carbon" goal and collaboratively reduce air pollutant emissions, China's shipping industry will be global Competitiveness and influence will also be further enhanced.

The Fourth Greenhouse Gas Study Report of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) shows that although the shipping industry has made efforts to improve ship energy efficiency in recent years, the shipping industry's carbon dioxide emissions are still rising. If no new emission reduction measures are taken, total emissions are expected to increase by 90%-130% in 2050 compared with 2008. In 2018, the International Maritime Organization adopted a preliminary strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry, proposing that global maritime carbon emission intensity must be reduced by at least 40% by 2030 compared with 2008, and strive to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2050. Total emissions will be reduced by at least 50% by 2050.

"The shipping industry has become an important source of emissions affecting the air quality of port cities, especially near busy ports and waterways." A related report released by the Asian Clean Air Center on the 28th said.

According to the report, at present, the scientific support for emission reduction in my country's ports is still weak, and some lack strategic guidance; the large-scale application of alternative energy sources for international navigation ships still faces multiple challenges, and the insufficient installation of shore power receiving facilities restricts the use of shore power in my country's coastal ports.

The survey shows that the shore power coverage rate in my country's coastal ports is low, and there are still a large number of coastal navigation ships and international sailing ships that do not have shore power receiving facilities. In particular, the overall equipment rate of shore power receiving facilities for international sailing ships is low.

"Very few foreign ships have shore power receiving facilities. Especially during the epidemic lockdown period, crew disembarkation was strictly restricted, which also had a certain impact on the promotion and use of shore power." Technology and Information Management of Zhejiang Seaport Investment and Operation Group Co., Ltd. Department Director Feng Hualong said.

Zhao Qingfeng introduced that the preliminary strategy for emission reduction in the shipping industry proposed by the International Maritime Organization is still a temporary arrangement, and there is still a certain degree of uncertainty in many implementation plans. For example, the setting of operating energy efficiency baselines and intensity measurement indicators in the ship operation energy efficiency control plan are still controversial; the market mechanism plan has also been rejected because it involves sensitive issues such as carbon emissions trading and emission peaks.

Marine alternative fuels are an important means to achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2050, and are also one of the important ways to reduce nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide emissions. Zhao Qingfeng said, "Although the industry has conducted research and development on a variety of clean energy sources, the low-carbon development path of ship fuel is still unclear." He said that the currently widely used LNG fuel may not be able to meet long-term emission reduction goals. Ammonia fuel, which has certain advantages in technical availability, still has problems such as high cost and difficulty in achieving large-scale supply in the short term.

"The decarbonization transformation of the shipping industry is a comprehensive project that affects the whole world. It not only requires a large investment of money and time, but also the competition between many stakeholders has made decarbonization more difficult." Zhao Qingfeng said, for example, that currently the whole world 80% of the world's fleet is owned by thousands of shipowners and companies with different ownership types. Their decarbonization enthusiasm and path choices vary, making it difficult to form a decarbonization consensus.

The above report believes that the improvement of ship energy efficiency in the short term and the application of alternative energy sources in the medium and long term are the keys to decarbonizing shipping. The survey found that the proportion of carbon reduction technologies currently used in new ship orders has increased significantly. Taking the three main ship types of container ships, bulk carriers and oil tankers as an example, as of the end of November 2022, the proportion of ship capacity using energy-saving technology and alternative fuels in new ship orders has reached 22.3%-40.6% and 14%-14% respectively. 37%.

The "Potential for Producing Zero-Carbon Ship Fuels in Developing Countries" report released by the World Bank in 2021 predicts that the widespread use of zero-carbon fuels will bring financing needs of more than US trillion to the ship fuel market.

Cheng Huihui, transportation project director of Clean Air Asia, said that government departments can consider strengthening financial support for energy transition to give ports and shipping more impetus for transformation. Ports should give priority to alternative energy paths that help achieve long-term zero-emission goals, and explore the large-scale application of alternative energy sources such as pure electric power. Shipping companies also need to carry out the layout and application of zero-carbon marine energy as soon as possible, and at the same time play a linking role to link all parties to actively participate in the development and application of alternative fuel technologies.