Clean energy marine hubs initiative launched

Just before PS was about to go to press, I was sitting in the basement coffee shop of Waterstones bookshop in Piccadilly, London chatting with a colleague/friend and among the various topics we covered was the remarkable lack of infrastructure and systems under development to support the global shipping industry’s greater use of low carbon fuels.

Was there a spy in the sky, who was listening?

Well, it seems a number of countries – specifically Canada, Norway, Panama, Uruguay and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – plus the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Association of Ports & Harbors (IAPH), who, hot on the heels of this discussion, on the 20 July, launched the Clean Energy Maritime Hubs Initiative (CEM-Hubs). Announced in Goa, India CEM-Hubs aims to bring together the private sector and governments across the energy-maritime value chain “to transform maritime transportation and production hubs for future low-carbon fuels.”

The founding partners in the initiative emphasise: “The energy maritime value chain is far from ready to transport the influx of low-carbon fuels that are expected between now and 2050. To accommodate demand,” they elaborate, “the shipping industry is expected to transport at least 50 per cent of all traded low carbon fuels by 2050, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). But the production centres, vessels and port infrastructure required to accommodate expected demand do not currently exist at commercial scale.”

Further underlining the scale of the challenge, they point out that to-date, “only one ship in the whole global fleet has been piloted to transport liquefied hydrogen – travelling from Australia to Japan.” And that: “For hydrogen derivatives such as ammonia and other low-carbon fuels moved by ships, the scale is far from what heavy industries, transport and other sectors would require. To support the global transition to net-zero targets, shipping is expected to transport between two and up to five times the low carbon fuels it will consume by 2050.”

The initiative is clearly a much needed one with it adopted less than a year after it was first presented, in an unprecedented move by the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM). This again underlines the immense scale of the problem and urgency to establish solutions.

Well done all those involved – let’s get cracking! It is not just an area that must be addressed but also as Patrick Verhoeven, Managing Director, IAPH, points out, a significant area of business opportunity.