Shipowners welcome 40% production benchmark

European shipowners welcomed the inclusion of clean fuels for shipping, including advanced biofuels and e-fuels, in the list of net-zero technologies adopted yesterday at the European Parliament under the Net-Zero Industry Act.   

The new law introduces a benchmark for the European Commission and EU member states to match 40% of the deployment needs for clean fuels for shipping with production capacity. 

By 2030 shipping will be fighting many other industries for every prized drop of the myriad new green fuels.

Increasing regulatory pressure to decarbonise, including stricter targets set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) last July, means the shipping industry now needs to achieve a 20% reduction in emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by or around 2050. To meet the anticipated demand of 17m tonnes of oil equivalent annually by 2030, the maritime sector needs to access a 30-40% of the projected worldwide carbon-neutral fuel supply, according to a report by DNV.