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Assessment of full life-cycle air emissions of alternative shipping fuels

Assessment of full life-cycle air emissions of alternative shipping fuels
Assessment of full life-cycle air emissions of alternative shipping fuels

There is a need for alternative fuels in the shipping sector for two main motivations: to deliver a reduction in local pollutants and comply with existing regulation; and to mitigate climate change and cut greenhouse gas emissions. However, any alternative fuel must meet a range of criteria to become a viable option. Key among them is the requirement that it can deliver emissions reductions over its full life-cycle. For a set of fuels, comprising both conventional and alternative fuels, together with associated production pathways, this paper presents a life-cycle assessment with respect to six emissions species: local pollutants sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter; and greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. While the analysis demonstrates that no widely available fuel exists currently to deliver on both motivations, some alternative fuel options have the potential, if key barriers can be overcome. Hydrogen or other synthetic fuels rely on decarbonisation of both energy input to production and other feedstock materials to deliver reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, bio-derived fuels can be an abatement option, but only if it can be ensured that land-use change whilst growing biomass does not impact wider potential savings and the sector is able to compete sufficiently for their use. These examples show that crucial barriers are located upstream in the respective fuel life-cycle and that the way to overcome them may reside beyond the scope of the shipping sector alone.

0959-6526
855-866
Gilbert, Paul
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Walsh, Conor
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Traut, Michael
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Kesieme, Uchenna
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Pazouki, Kayvan
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Murphy, Alan
8e021dad-0c60-446b-a14e-cddd09d44626
Gilbert, Paul
9e659e26-7dd2-422f-b84f-cfcdaf6c886c
Walsh, Conor
f779a8d9-862a-4d15-93ee-032fd7671e9f
Traut, Michael
5aa54851-b9d5-481b-a69e-203b570ab086
Kesieme, Uchenna
f627d0b6-994b-404a-98e0-f90752b34a51
Pazouki, Kayvan
1e69a646-83da-49ce-af3a-c40808c83ffe
Murphy, Alan
8e021dad-0c60-446b-a14e-cddd09d44626

Gilbert, Paul, Walsh, Conor, Traut, Michael, Kesieme, Uchenna, Pazouki, Kayvan and Murphy, Alan (2017) Assessment of full life-cycle air emissions of alternative shipping fuels. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, 855-866. (doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.165).

Record type: Article

Abstract

There is a need for alternative fuels in the shipping sector for two main motivations: to deliver a reduction in local pollutants and comply with existing regulation; and to mitigate climate change and cut greenhouse gas emissions. However, any alternative fuel must meet a range of criteria to become a viable option. Key among them is the requirement that it can deliver emissions reductions over its full life-cycle. For a set of fuels, comprising both conventional and alternative fuels, together with associated production pathways, this paper presents a life-cycle assessment with respect to six emissions species: local pollutants sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter; and greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. While the analysis demonstrates that no widely available fuel exists currently to deliver on both motivations, some alternative fuel options have the potential, if key barriers can be overcome. Hydrogen or other synthetic fuels rely on decarbonisation of both energy input to production and other feedstock materials to deliver reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Similarly, bio-derived fuels can be an abatement option, but only if it can be ensured that land-use change whilst growing biomass does not impact wider potential savings and the sector is able to compete sufficiently for their use. These examples show that crucial barriers are located upstream in the respective fuel life-cycle and that the way to overcome them may reside beyond the scope of the shipping sector alone.

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Accepted/In Press date: 15 October 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 October 2017
Published date: 5 November 2017
Additional Information: Funding Information: This article was facilitated through funding from EPSRC , United Kingdom (through the Shipping in Changing Climates Project: EP/K039253/1 ). Multiple datasets openly available at various data repositories were used to support these research findings. All the data used are referred to in the ‘References’ section of this publication. Furthermore, all research data supporting this publication are directly available within this publication. The authors would also like to express gratitude to Solmaz Haji and Tristan Smith at UCL Energy Institute for their intellectual input during the preliminary stages of this work.

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Local EPrints ID: 483676
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/483676
ISSN: 0959-6526
PURE UUID: d07ea8c4-1401-4671-b820-da3cca262a15

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Date deposited: 03 Nov 2023 17:50
Last modified: 05 Jun 2024 17:47

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Contributors

Author: Paul Gilbert
Author: Conor Walsh
Author: Michael Traut
Author: Uchenna Kesieme
Author: Kayvan Pazouki
Author: Alan Murphy

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