US joins decarbonisation initiative to develop eco-friendly ship fuels

The US Department of Energy has agreed to collaborate with Norway, Denmark and other nations in decarbonising the shipping sector. According to officials, Singapore, India, Morocco, the UK, France, Ghana and South Korea will offer support for the initiative, such as sharing information. The global shipping sector contributes to around 3% of the world’s carbon emissions and constitutes almost 90% of world trade. In April, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said that Washington would join an international effort to attain zero emissions in the global shipping sector by 2050. The Department of Energy told that it would team up with Denmark and Norway to accelerate the development of green maritime and energy technologies. The department said: “By 2030, we want ships capable of running on well-to-wake zero-emission fuels, such as green hydrogen, green ammonia, green methanol and advanced biofuels, to make up at least 5% of the global deep-sea fleet measured by fuel consumption.” Well-to-wake emissions are a measurement of a fuel’s total emissions from its production to its use in ships. The department added that it aims to use green fuels in at least 200 ships by 2030.