#24 Fossil fuel to food fuel to ammonia: Marine shippers aspire for decarbonised capitalism
This week, the International Maritime Organisation, a United Nations entity that builds a regulatory framework for international shipping is conducting a working group session on reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships. One of their subjects will be to talk about the importance of biofuels. In the age of green finance, biofuel is an important commodity in the stock market.
In marine shipping, the fuel used is slightly different from those used in automobiles and planes. This is because marine engines are a lot heftier and require a more potent, long-lasting fuel supply. Marine fuels, derived from petroleum products and also known as bunker fuels (the name ‘bunker fuel’ comes from the age of steam ships, when the coal used to fuel vessels was stored in coal bunkers onboard) are usually heavier and less refined than the regular vehicular fuels. The Heavy Fuel Oils in particular, the most common type of marine fuel with a high amount of sulphur content, is environmentally, the most polluting kind of fuel. Shipping, according to studies, has been responsible for producing 2.5% of global CO2 emissions, and accounting for between 5% and 10% of total sulphur oxides (SOx) and between 17% and 31% for nitrogen oxides emissions. Sulphur fumes are extremely harmful to human health, causing respiratory, cardiovascular and lung disease. Once released in the atmosphere, SOx can lead to acid rain, which impacts crops, forests and aquatic species and contributes to the acidification of the oceans. In 2020, the IMO came out with a set of regulations to reduce the amount of sulphur in fuel, and so the Very-Low Sulphur Fuel Oil was used, with a sulphur cap which set the maximum concentration of sulphur to 0.50m/m (mass by mass).
Now this type of fuel, while reducing sulphur emissions, does not reduce carbon emissions. It is still a derivative of fossil fuels. And so, in order to meet the near- zero GHG emission targets of 2030, the International Maritime Organisation is pushing for a number of alternative fuels.
Biofuels for shipping future?
Biofuels are essentially fuels produced from organic matter, generally agricultural produce. Some of the most commonly used biofuels are cropfuels blends from palm oil, soybean, sugar, and corn and sometimes agricultural waste.
The biofuel market in the marine shipping sector is growing. But, earlier this week, a strong statement was released, signed by a number of international non-profits AND big shipping companies advising against the use of biofuels in the shipping sector. The statement remarked that the IMO should not encourage crop-based biofuels deriving from crop-based feedstocks which come with direct and indirect deforestation, and many other sustainability issues ranging from water scarcity to food security.
"When the EU decided to encourage the use of biofuels in 2009, the consumption of palm oil-based biofuels doubled between 2010 and 2020, reaching close to a third of EU biofuels use. Scientific evidence later demonstrated that 45% of palm oil expansion happened at the expense of carbon rich ecosystems like forests or peatlands over that same period. Similar findings have been uncovered for other crop-based feedstock such as soy," the statement said.
So what fuel is being pushed for use?
AMMONIA; GREEN AMMONIA to be precise. Ammonia, or NH3, is nothing more than nitrogen and hydrogen, both highly abundant elements. Earth's atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, and water is full of hydrogen. Chemically, ammonia is usually synthesised industrially using the Haber-Bosch process. But the process itself is quite polluting, causing more emissions, so industries are now pushing for GREEN AMMONIA. Green ammonia is a produced by using a process of electrolysis that does not generate pollution. While its use as a marine fuel is still at a nascent stage, shipping companies such as MAERSK and HAPAG LLOYD are fully backing for its production and infrastructure.
Ammonia is a volatile compound. ammonia and ammonia-powered vessels like toxicity, flammability, explosions and material incompatibility. Moreover, there is no practical experience in using ammonia as a fuel in shipping and ammonia-based concepts for propulsion, such as ammonia internal combustion engines, are still at development stages.
Ammonia has been used heavily as a fertiliser and as a refrigerant. It's storage, and carriage have their infrastructure in place, but even then, factories in India have often reported of incidents of leakage causing havoc to the people living in the vicinity. The most recent example of this has been of an ammonia gas leak in a fertiliser factory in Kota, Rajasthan, leaving dozens of people sick. Prior to that the ammonia gas leak because of a pipeline burst in Ennore, Chennai caused a lot of damage to the people and the ecosystem. No accountability on that front yet.
India incidentally is the second largest importer of ammonia in the world, after the USA.
'Renewable' energy is inherently extractive. Green capitalism is still capitalism. Decarbonised shipping still comes at a cost to the environment and communities.
RECOMMENDED READS
Carbon-free fuels could have a dark side: https://www.science.org/content/article/carbon-free-fuels-could-have-dark-side
IN OTHER NEWS
Shreya Raman reports from Palghar, coastal Maharashtra where the country's largest port is under construction, and the fisherwomen resiliently refuse to back down: https://behanbox.com/2025/02/11/why-women-refuse-to-give-up-the-battle-to-save-vadhavan-site-of-indias-largest-port/
Frontline magazine does an in-depth coverage of the potential impacts of The Great Nicobar Project: https://frontline.thehindu.com/environment/great-nicobar-infrastructure-environmental-tragedy/article69158497.ece