Japanese shipping major Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has joined forces with compatriot tech company Air Water to jointly study the trial use of liquefied bio-methane (LBM) derived from cattle manure onboard liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled vessels.
Greg Dolan, CEO of the Methanol Institute, stated at the conference of the methanol industry group IMPCA in Miami on February 15 that renewable methanol is considered a feasible fuel choice in speeding the decarbonisation of maritime industries, as reported by S&P Global.
Surge in methanol projects
“We are witnessing clear evidence of an impending surge of bio-methanol and e-methanol production,”he said. “80 sustainable methanol projects have already been launched.”
CMA CGM has stepped up its investment into alternative fuels, launching a project to buy 12,000 tonnes of bio-methane on a guarantee-of-origin basis. It noted that this amount of fuel would be enough to power two of its intra-Europe subsidiary Containerships’ 1,400 teu LNG-powered vessels, deployed on a St Petersburg-Rotterdam Baltic Sea feeder loop, for an entire year. However, the company stressed that, acquiring the fuel did not mean it would be …