This report assesses potential technology pathways for decarbonising EU-related shipping through a shift to zero-carbon technologies and the impact such a move could have on renewable electricity demand in Europe.
Powering European ships with batteries, hydrogen or ammonia will decarbonise the fleet and require only half the amount of renewable electricity that less efficient solutions like synthetic methane or synthetic diesel will need. That’s according to sustainable transport group Transport & Environment, which has published a Roadmap to Decarbonising European Shipping. The EU must set out in its 2050 Decarbonisation Strategy, to be published on 28 November, how it will end the use of fossil fuels in shipping, including marine fuel oil and liquified natural gas (LNG).
Powering Europe’s transport with fossil gas – widely known as ‘natural’ gas – would emit as much greenhouse gases as using petrol, diesel or conventional marine fuels, a new T&E report has found. Fossil gas cars also emit as much air pollution as petrol ones and their limited advantage over new diesels that comply with the latest emissions standards could be eliminated by the planned introduction of new Euro VII/7 standards, the research shows. Yet, by taxing gas for transport at a rates much lower than petrol and diesel, European lawmakers are incentivising the use of this fossil fuel.
The international shipping community has made little progress to advance the global commitment made earlier this year to reduce the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. This is despite impassioned pleas for action by climate scientists to the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) environment committee last month. Delegates spent two weeks discussing procedural matters and timelines rather than concrete measures to decarbonise the sector. T&E said that some IMO delegates soon ‘would not have a country to land on’ due to global warming if this pace of activity continues.
Two weeks of talks in London on what measures the global shipping sector should take to reduce its climate impact have failed to make progress. Governments meeting at the UN’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO) were supposed to start delivering on their April commitment to decarbonise international shipping but instead became bogged down in procedural matters. The Clean Shipping Coalition [1] said the total lack of urgency was in stark contrast to the impassioned pleas for action made to delegates by the authors of the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Secondo un nuovo rapporto, l'uso del gas fossile nei trasporti è dannoso per il clima quanto quello di benzina, del gasolio o dei carburanti navali convenzionali. La ricerca dimostra anche che bruciare gas nelle auto produce un inquinamento atmosferico uguale a quelle alimentate a benzina, mentre il limitato vantaggio rispetto alle auto diesel si elimina con le nuove norme previste. L’ONG Transport & Environment (T&E), autrice del rapporto, ha dichiarato che i legislatori devono accettare la realtà che il gas fossile non può contribuire a rendere puliti i trasporti e dovrebbe iniziare a tassarlo con aliquote analoghe a quelle applicate al gasolio e alla benzina.
The EU has agreed to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 80-95% by 2050. Climate policy will require a shift away from petroleum which currently provides nearly all of transport’s energy needs. Apart from a transition towards zero-emission technologies such as battery electric or hydrogen, regulators and governments across Europe are considering what role gas could play in decarbonising transport. This report compiles the latest evidence on the environmental impacts of using gas as a transport fuel.
Using natural gas for transport is as bad for the climate as using petrol, diesel or conventional marine fuels, a new report finds. Burning gas in cars also emits as much air pollution as petrol and the limited advantage over compliant diesel cars could be eliminated by planned new standards, the research shows. NGO Transport & Environment (T&E), which published the report, said lawmakers must accept that fossil gas cannot help clean up transport and should start taxing it at the same rate as diesel and petrol.