Power-to-X key to emissions reduction

Speaking at the opening press conference of trade fair SMM, Starke noted that such technologies – known collectively as ‘power-to-X’ – could reduce shipping’s greenhouse emissions by between 80-100% depending on the electricity source.

Starke noted that power-to-X technologies are in development, with electricity potentially being used to produce hydrogen, synthetic natural gas or liquid fuels. But he warned that reliance on hydrogen – often touted as a shipping fuel of the future, would not be a magic solution.

“We have been working on hydrogen for a long time and while engines can burn it, the problems have been around logistics, storage and safety,” he said. “It will be part of the solution, but it will not be the one knob that switches us to our emissions targets.”

Efficiency improvements in engine technology will only be sufficient to offset the extra emissions caused by growth in shipping between now and 2050, said Starke. He noted that engine developers have been working on efficiency for a hundred years and that improvements only happen in small increments.

A move to gas fuels currently available would reduce emissions by around 20%, he said, while the use of existing gas supply infrastructure offers a potentially useful way to store and supply energy from other sources in the future.

In the long term, Starke predicted that wider electrification in shipping would reduce emissions. But he issued a warning about the speed at which new technologies would need to be developed.

“We need solutions we can start to implement in ten years’ time,” he said. “Anything brought to market then will still be in operation in 2050.”

Starke and Caterpillar are among several engine developers to have stated their faith in fuel-side developments – particularly power-to-X – to meet both environmental goals set by the industry and wider social and political expectaions.