Lessons learned, the methane slip, supply issues and moving to bio and e-methane were major topics at Seatrade Cruise Global’s A Fuel in Transition: LNG’s Fossil Free Future! conference session.
Carnival Corp was the first cruise operator to make the move to LNG and has notched up many successes in that time, with Carnival Corp senior vice president maritime affairs Tom Strang citing the company has had more firsts in LNG bunkering than any other operator. Furthermore, the company has probably had more approvals in principle than anyone else in different locations.
Mr Strang told the audience about the challenges Carnival has faced in terms of supply. “The challenge is ensuring LNG supplies are available where we need it. It is really about the supply – it concerned us at the start of the process and concerns us today.”
The Ukraine war has also added to the supply challenges.
The other issue the industry needs to address, is, he said, methane slip. “It’s important to understand there are things that can be done, and we believe this is an issue that can be resolved. We have seen massive improvements from the engine manufacturers. There are abatement technologies… we are beginning to see that technology moving on.”
Indeed, he pointed out all major manufacturers are committed to reducing methane slip, while producers are committed to reducing the methane slip created in production.
Both he and other panel members underlined the important role LNG has to play in hitting the 2050 targets.
“LNG is a fuel in transition. We can move to bio and e-methane,” Mr Strang said, adding, “LNG is here to stay. It’s difficult to talk about making fuels in the future, we don’t just talk about what comes out of the ground but how to make fuels in the future. Whether bio or e-methane, methane is about the easiest fuel to make so there is a real opportunity. For people who say they can’t resolve this [methane slip], I wouldn’t believe that. There are significant improvements.
“I am not going to suggest we are not looking at alternative fuels, we are all looking at alternative fuels, but LNG has a real role to play going forward.”
Sea-LNG general manager Adi Aggarwal highlights the opportunities for LNG to meet 2050 emissions targets. He said, “We can meet the 2050 emissions targets by transitioning from fossil LNG to bio and e-fuels. The biggest advantage is we don’t need to use 100% bioLNG, it is a drop-in fuel so you can start blending in at different levels.”
Mr Aggarwal singled out as an example, that an operator could start at 5%, then increase to 10% and 15% etc and start seeing more benefits with bioLNG, depending on the source, enabling negative carbon intensities. Some of SEA-LNG’s studies show 25% bioLNG blended can create a net-zero voyage.
Mr Strang commented, “We need a system that allows you to take advantage of where the LNG and bioLNG is produced.”
He also highlighted bioLNG has other benefits as well as being a passage to net zero. LNG is made up of a lot of different elements; it is bought it on gross calorific value and this means cost is increased as it has propane, methane and ethane in it, meaning, Mr Strang said, “you are paying for fuel you can’t use”.
In contrast, bio and e-LNG don’t have all these different elements in them. Mr Strang said, “These are much better fuels – they will be more efficient and you can get more power out of them, and they won’t have the derating requirement, so there are lots of advantages.
“If we can get to the stage for bioLNG to come into the supply chain, then we already well ahead of the chain.”
