Norway is calling for a mandatory limit on the carbon intensity of fuel to be combined with a greenhouse gas cap and emissions trading scheme to slash shipping’s carbon footprint.
The idea will be discussed at an International Maritime Organization working group in October.
It represents the first concrete government-backed proposal on how to achieve the IMO's long-term target of a 50% reduction in GHG emissions by 2050.
The European Commission has also pitched in with a proposal for emissions created in the refinery process to be included in the measurement of the carbon intensity of fuel.
As has the US, opening the discussion on mandating the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII), which will define ship operational efficiency standards.
The IMO will be anxious to show it is making progress on achieving its long-term goals at the working group, ahead of the United Nations COP26 gathering in November in Glasgow, Scotland.
The IMO has a further Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting planned shortly after COP26 to progress its emissions reduction ideas.
In its submission, Norway called for the "rapid decarbonisation of all human activity". “Norway now observes changes in the Earth's climate in every region and across the whole climate system," it said.
Norway’s idea is that the combination of a mandatory carbon intensity limit, with an emissions cap and trade scheme, would accelerate the adoption of low-carbon fuels.
“They will work best in combination for the effective uptake of sustainable low-carbon and zero-carbon fuels to meet the 2050 ambitions,” Norway said.
Key consideration
The idea is for the carbon intensity limit on fuel to be phased in gradually, and mandated through Marpol Annex VI.
A key consideration is whether the well-to-tank emissions — which cover the refinery process — should be included in the carbon intensity calculation, or phased in at a later date, as regulation is tightened.
On a similar theme, the EC is developing a proposal for a greenhouse gas fuel standard.
The idea is to create a Low GHG Fuel Standard (LGFS) that will force ships to adopt low-carbon fuels from “the middle of the decade”.
Flexibility allowed
The phasing in of the LGFS will be timed to coincide with the availability of alternative low-carbon fuels.
However, the submission said it wanted to “allow ships a high degree of flexibility on how to comply”.
This would permit large fleets, or pools, to allow some ships to burn conventional fuel as long as it is offset by others burning low or zero-carbon fuels.
The EC’s proposal also requires a fuel's well-to-tank production process to be taken into consideration of overall GHG values.
This could, however, cause problems for some promising alternative fuels such as methanol, biomass and LNG, which are considered to have high well-to-tank GHG values.
The US' CII debate addresses the fact that while minimum standards for ship efficiency have been agreed to 2026, there is currently no penalty for failing to comply.
Ships will simply be rated A to E depending on their efficiency, with those rated D and E considered outside the minimum standard.
The US hopes to complete its proposal for mandating CII by 2022.
