Aligned emissions accounting would ease adoption of new drop-in fuels: MMMCZCS
Maritime regulatory frameworks, like FuelEU Maritime and EU ETS, need to harmonise their emissions accounting methods to ease the adoption of new low-emissions drop-in fuels by the shipping sector, the Mærsk McKinney Møller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMMCZCS) said in a new study. MMMCZCS says that the current supply of widely adopted drop-in fuels, ...
A new study from the Mærsk McKinney Møller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping (MMMMCZCS) suggests that harmonising emissions accounting methods in maritime regulatory frameworks could help expedite the adoption of low-emission drop-in fuels in the shipping sector. Current drop-in fuels such as FAME and HVO, covered under the ISO 8217:2024 standard, do not meet the shipping industry's energy demand.
Consequently, alternative drop-in fuels like pyrolysis oil, hydrothermal liquefaction oil, and cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) remain unaccounted for under the ISO standard.
The study outlines the adoption process for drop-in fuels, revealing that the pathway is unclear, fragmented, and time-consuming, with roles often poorly defined among stakeholders. The main obstacle in adopting new fuels is the varying methods used by different regulatory frameworks, such as the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), FuelEU Maritime, and the IMO's Net-Zero Framework, to calculate fuel emissions.
This divergence creates ambiguity as to whether a fuel is eligible for adoption under one framework but not another.
Differing sustainability and eligibility criteria, indirect land-use change considerations, waste definitions, and approaches to negative emissions also contribute to this uncertainty. To address this issue, the report recommends aligning life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies and penalty structures across these frameworks. This alignment would reduce the uncertainty faced by stakeholders considering the adoption of new drop-in fuels.
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