Eni presented a document titled “The route to net zero. Decarbonizing the maritime sector” in collaboration with Assarmatori and Confitarma as well as three of the largest companies in the maritime sector (Wärtsilä, WinGD and MAN Energy Solutions) and Unem, Federchimica/Assogasliquidi, Assocostieri and RINA. The contributors oversaw the work of 40 experts who have been working together since last March to achieve a common strategy.
The result was the drafting of a strategic orientation document, beginning with an analysis of the technological evolution of engines and the availability, in terms of infrastructure, of low-carbon energy sources.
The sector needs short, medium and long-term solutions compatible with economic trends in order to gradually reach zero CO2 emissions and enable shipowners to adequately meet the targets set by the EU Commission as well as those laid out at an international level by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and any additional region-specific commitments. There are several available energy sources (HVO, FAME, LPG, LNG, methanol, ammonia, synthetic fuels and hydrogen); each has different applications which are determined by the availability of raw materials and the existing or planned infrastructure to produce them.
Engine makers are ready to develop tailor-made solutions for different types of fuel. At the moment, for new orders shipowners are experimenting with single-fuel engines (trialling also with on-board CO2 capture for LNG or technologies that capture carbon in solid form before combustion) and dual-fuel engines (using liquid or gaseous fuels including biofuels, methanol and in the long-term ammonia and hydrogen).