Carbon neutral LNG

LNG tugboat Ishin, owned by MOL and operated by MOL subsidiary Nihon Tug-Boat, was supplied with CNLNG fuel for the first time at the wharf in Sakai Senboku Port, Osaka.

“The “carbon neutral” designation means that all greenhouse gases (GHGs), generated throughout the life cycle of natural gas extraction, liquefaction, transport, production, and combustion processes, were offset by credit,” said MOL.

Net zero emissions

The CNLNG fuel was provided by Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. and Daigas Energy Co., Ltd. on  1 September, using a truck to ship method.

Ishin, MOL’s first LNG-fuelled vessel, has been operated by Nihon Tug-Boat since February 2019. It has been supplied with LNG fuel from Daigas Energy since the beginning of its operation. Daigas Energy and Nihon Tug-Boat have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for supply of CNLNG over several years.

The goal of the MOL Group is to achieve net zero GHG emissions by 2050, as set out in the “MOL Group Environmental Vision 2.1”, announced in June 2021. The group set the “Adoption of Clean Alternative Fuels” strategy to realise the goal, and plans to introduce about 90 LNG-fuelled vessels by 2030.

MOL aims to promote the wider use of LNG-fuelled vessels while working to adopt new alternative fuels such as ammonia and conducting research and development on the use of synthetic methane, which is expected to contribute to further reduction of GHGs.