Life Cycle Assessment within Biological Production Systems, 2023

Introduction to case 2

Case 2 – Alternative fuels for marine transport

Niclas Scott Bentsen, Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, KU-SCIENCE
Giovanna Croxatto Vega, Maersk

Introduction
The initial IMO (International Marine Organisation) strategy on the reduction of GHG emissions from ships was
launched in 2018. With the strategy, the IMO envisions to remain committed to reducing GHG emissions from
international shipping and, as a matter of urgency, aims to phase them out as soon as possible in this century.
The strategy identifies levels of ambition for the international shipping sector noting that technological
innovation and the global introduction of alternative fuels and/or energy sources for international shipping will
be integral to achieve the overall ambition. After the 80th meeting for the Marine Environment Protection
Committee (MEPC) the strategy was revised to set more ambitious targets.
The latest strategy includes the following targets:
1. A long-term target of net zero emissions around 2050 (‘by or around’, i.e., close to 2050).
2. A fuel mix target of at least 5% “green fuels” striving toward 10% in the global fuel mix in 2030.
3. Intermediate check points for total emissions reductions of 20-30% in 2030 and 70-80% in 2040 (compared
to 2008).
4. The carbon intensity of the ship to decline through implementation of further phases of the energy
efficiency design index (EEDI) for new ships.
5. The carbon intensity of international shipping to decline to reduce CO2 emissions per transport work, as an
average across international shipping, by at least 30% by 2030, pursuing efforts towards 80% by 2040,
compared to 2008.
Additionally, the greenhouse reduction measures include a timeline for adoption with entry into force by 2027
and interim LCA guidelines for accounting for biofuels under the IMO’s Carbon Intensity Index (CII) reporting.
Denmark has a long tradition of shipping and a comparably large shipping sector. According to the IPCC
guidelines for GHG accounting, emissions from international shipping are not attributed to a specific country.
Nevertheless, emissions are reported. Emissions from international transport by Danish ships, planes and
vehicles make up a significant contribution to the total GHG emissions from the Danish economy (fig. 1). In
2021, international transport emitted 40 million tonnes CO2eq out of a total emission from the Danish
economy of 84 million tonnes CO2eq.
While households and industries have seen declining trends in GHG emissions, emissions from international
transport have remained stable or increased slightly over the last decade.

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 Life Cycle Assessment within Biological Production Systems, 2023
Introduction to case 2

Figure 1. GHG emissions from the Danish economy (excluding emissions from biomass). Reference:
www.statistikbanken.dk/drivhus.

Comparing international transport with other industrial sectors (fig. 2) shows that international transport is the
sector with highest emissions.

Figure 2. Disaggregation of relative GHG emissions from industrial sectors in 2021. The colors have no
significance. Reference: https://www.dst.dk/da/Statistik/temaer/klima

International shipping has to some extent managed to decouple growth from GHG emissions (fig. 3)

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 Life Cycle Assessment within Biological Production Systems, 2023
Introduction to case 2

Figure 3. Relative development in freight, tonnes (Godsmængde), transport work, tonnes*km

(Transportarbejde) and GHG emissions (CO2e udledning) for international shipping. Ref:
https://ens.dk/sites/ens.dk/files/Basisfremskrivning/7._baggrundsnotat_-_international_transport.pdf

Maersk targets and ambitions

Maersk has engaged with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and has set GHG emission targets
consistent with the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Agreement. They have committed to achieve company-wide
net zero emissions by 2040 and a 35% absolute reduction in carbon intensity (compared to 2022) by 2030 by
e.g., launching their first green fuel vessels in 2023.
Currently, Maersk emits 34 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents directly from fuel consumption. Due to the setup
of the Paris agreement, international shipping is not restricted since it falls outside of national boundaries,
which means it is only up to Maersk to limit their climate impact. However, Maersk still has the ambition to
decrease this significantly and has set targets that are more ambitious than IMO targets.
Maersk recently had the first ship designed to run on methanol delivered from a shipyard in South Korea. They
have ordered 25 ships in total so far and so they will soon constitute 25 out of the total fleet of 700 ships.
Currently there is very little green methanol available for Maersk to buy, but after the first ship has been
delivered, the demand for the fuel is there and hopefully this will give incentive to producers to ramp up
production.

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 Life Cycle Assessment within Biological Production Systems, 2023
Introduction to case 2

The Danish Climate Act

In the context of the Danish Climate Act of 2020 the government is committed to reduce territorial greenhouse
gas emissions 70% relative to 1990 by 2030 and to achieve climate neutrality no later than 2050 in line with the
goals of the Paris Agreement. At the same time, it is emphasized that initiatives taken to reduce territorial
emissions must ensure that emissions are not moved to other countries, burden shifting must be avoided to
the extent possible. The latter could encompass international transport as emissions therefrom are not
accounted for in the national GHG accounts.
Case 2 challenge
To meet own targets and to contribute to the Danish ambitions of reducing consumption based GHG emissions
Maersk is looking into alternative fuels for shipping. However, it is important that alternative fuels are
developed in a sustainable way that does not lead to any other serious impacts on the environment.
You are commissioned by Maersk to study alternative marine fuels and analyze the extent to which they are
actually benefitting the environment. Maersk is interested in fuels made from plant residues and particularly
cereal straw because it is considered a waste product. The company therefore asks for a life cycle assessment
of the following options for fuelling ships:
A) Traditional ships fuelled with heavy fuel oil
B) Ships running on pyrolysis oils produced by hydrotreating of pyrolysis gases produced by pyrolysis
of straw.

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 Life Cycle Assessment within Biological Production Systems, 2023
Introduction to case 2

C) Ships running on methanol produced from biogas made from straw.

The three options are shown in the figure below.

A) Heavy fuel oil

Heavy fuel oil (HFO) is considered the reference in the assessment. HFO is the residue after distillation of
petroleum. You are not expected to build and assess a HFO supply chain but can base your assessment on
values in databases or literature.
If straw is not used for the production of fuel, it will probably be left in the field causing as listed in the table
below.

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 Life Cycle Assessment within Biological Production Systems, 2023
Introduction to case 2

Processing Step Input Name Unit Input Output

Land application Straw Kg/kg straw dm 1
of straw Potassium in straw Kg/kg straw dm 0.01805
Ammonia, air Kg/kg straw dm 0.00071
Dinitrogen monoxide, air Kg/kg straw dm 9.566 E-05
Methane, biogenic air Kg/kg straw dm 0
Nitrogen dioxide, air Kg/kg straw dm 0.00033
Nitrate, water Kg/kg straw dm 0.00664
Phosphorus, water Kg/kg straw dm 0
Carbon permanently stored in soil Kg/kg straw dm 0.0708

B) Straw to pyrolysis oil

Pyrolysis is a thermochemical conversion process (temperature in the main catalyst for conversion), more
specifically a thermal depolymerisation in the absence of oxygen. The polymers in the straw feedstock are
converted into an oil like mixture of various compounds, which again can be upgraded to a so-called drop-in
fuel, meaning it can be distributed and stored in the existing infrastructure and used in current marine engines.
Data for the processing steps in the conversion chain are listed below.

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Introduction to case 2

Processing Step Input Name Unit Input Output

Fast pyrolysis Straw, as dm kg 6.0869
Electricity kWh 0.0365
Diesel for baling and shredding straw MJ 0.0748
Transport of straw from field to barn to digester tkm 0.035
Char for land application, as dm kg 1.4985
Crude pyrolysis oil, as dm kg dm 1
Carbon dioxide, biogenic kg 1.13 E+00
Carbon monoxide, biogenic kg 7.50 E-03
Nitrogen oxides kg 3.33 E-03
Particulates kg 3.92 E-05
Sulphur oxides kg 5.85 E-06
NMVOC kg 3.36 E-04
Hydrotreatment Crude pyrolysis oil, as dm kg 1.6866
H2 from SMR kg 0.0552
Electricity kWh 0.0771
Waste water kg 0.6181
Biofuel kg 1
Biofuel MJ 33
Fuel Use Biofuel MJ 1
Biofuel, C per dm kg 0.7

A co-product of pyrolysis oil is biochar, a recalcitrant carbon rich compound which can be returned to
agricultural soils and constitute a carbon storage for long time, probably centuries.
Processing Step Input Name Unit Input Output
Land application Biochar kg 1
of biochar C-storage (>100 years) kg/kg biochar 0.6986
Carbon dioxide, as CO2e (GWP aggr timing) kg/kg biochar 0.3687

C) Biogas to syngas to methanol

The process chain includes the conversion steps, anaerobic digestion of straw to biogas, upgrade of biogas to
biomethane, syngas production from biomethane and methanol production from syngas.
Anaerobic digestion of straw produces a gas mixture of mainly methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and a
solid co-product, digestate containing nutrient and hard to convert plant components (mainly lignin)
The gas mixture is upgraded to pure methane, called biomethane. Various technologies can be used to upgrade
biogas. CO2 is often released to the atmosphere, but can also contribute to enhance methane production.

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Introduction to case 2

The biomethane to syngas follows the following reactions:

Steam reforming converts methane to carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
CH4 + H2O → CO + 3H2
The reaction is endothermic requiring 206 kJ/mol of methane.
To produce more hydrogen, the water gas shift reaction is employed.
CO + H2O ↔ CO2 + H2
The reaction is exothermic generating 41 kJ/mol of hydrogen.
Syngas to methanol production follows the following reactions:
CO + 2H2 → CH3OH (exothermic, 90.64 kJ/mol methanol)
CO2 can also be hydrogenated to methanol:
CO2 + 3H2 → CH3OH + H2O (exothermic, 49.67 kJ/mol methanol)
Combustion of methanol follows the reaction:
2CH₃OH + 3O₂ → 2CO₂ + 4H₂O (exothermic, 726 kJ/mol methanol)
Waste heat
Methanol production generates a surplus of heat that potentially can be used in a district heating network.
Whether or not the heat can be used depends on the location of the methanol production facility and the
distance to a district heating grid. You must consider this in your goal and scope definition or include it in
reflections or assessment of sensitivity.
Data for the processing steps in the conversion chain are listed below.

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 Life Cycle Assessment within Biological Production Systems, 2023
Introduction to case 2

Processing Step Name Unit Input Output

Anaerobic digestion + Straw kg dm 6.37
biomethane upgrade Electricity kWh 1.15
Diesel for baling and shredding straw MJ 0.48
Transport of straw from field to barn to digester tkm 0.22
Water kg H2O 10.86
Digestate kg dm 3.01
Output: CH4 as available biogas kg 1
CH4 leakage kg dm 0.0199
CO2 from internal combustion kg dm 0.0106
CO2 leakage kg dm 0.0455
Methane synthesis Methane - feedstock kg 0.39
Methane - internal comb kg 1.31
Water kg 0.47
Clean syngas kg 1
Carbon dioxide (CO2) kg 0.3310
Methanol production Syngas from biogasification MJ 1
Electricity kWh 0
Methanol kg 1
Waste heat MJ -3.43
CO2 kg dm 0.02
Fuel Use MeOH MJ 1

The table below lists emissions related to land application of digestate.

Processing Step Name Unit Input Output

Land application of Digestate Kg 1
digestate Ammonia, air kg/kg digestate 7.10 E-04
Dinitrogen monoxide, air kg/kg digestate 9.57 E-05
Nitrogen dioxide, air kg/kg digestate 3.39 E-04
Nitrate, water kg/kg digestate 6.64 E-03

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Introduction to case 2

Combustion emissions
Combustion of marine fuels emit various compounds to the atmosphere. The table below lists direct emissions
from HFO, methanol, and pyrolysis oil.

CO NMVOC NOX SO2 PM10 PM2.5

kg/t kg/t kg/t kg/t kg/t kg/t
Methanol 3.67 19 5 1.5 0 0
Pyrolysis oil 3.67 1.67 69.1 19.2 5.2 4.4
HFO 3.67 1.67 69.1 1.82 5.2 4.4

Limitations
For the two renewable fuel alternatives, emissions related to capital goods are not included. Capital good refer
to facilities, factories and infrastructure required to support the supply chain. You are welcome to search for
data in databases or literature.
A pilot fuel is required for engines operating on biobased marine fuels. The pilot fuel can be used during engine
start-up and under low loads and also as an ignition initiator during normal operation. You can assume that 7%
by energy of the total fuel consumption is pilot fuel in the form of marine diesel.

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