Marine alternative fuels for shipping decarbonization: Technologies, applications and challenges

Abstract

Under the background of increasingly stringent emission regulations and the urgent necessity for decarbonization of the shipping industry, the application of marine alternative fuel technologies is crucial for reducing CO₂ emissions from vessels and achieving the mid-term and long-term carbon reduction targets in the shipping industry. This research focuses on the application technologies of the typical marine alternative fuels, including the LNG (liquefied natural gas), methanol, hydrogen and ammonia. The current research and application status of marine alternative fuels for shipping decarbonization are systematically examined, and the comprehensive analysis and discussions of the marine alternative fuels are carried out. On these foundations, the challenges and issues in the practical implementation of these technologies are discussed, and the future research directions are proposed, with the goal of offering insights for the development and practical applications of marine alternative fuels. The comprehensive analysis reveals that the marine alternative fuel applications can effectively reduce CO₂ emissions of ships, and the life cycle environmental and economic analysis can provide important guidance for selecting suitable alternative fuels for different ships. In the future, the key technologies considering the impact of various influence factors should be further studied to promote the practical applications of the marine alternative fuels, and thus contributing to the energy transitions and carbon reduction of the shipping industry.