The use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as marine fuel will result in higher green house gas (GHG) emissions than if marine gas oil (MGO) is used, states a report of International Council of Clean Transport (ICCT)
Using a 20-year global warming potential, which reflects the urgency of reducing GHGs to meet the climate goals of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and factoring in higher upstream emissions for all systems and crankcase emissions for low-pressure systems, there is no climate benefit from using LNG, regardless of the engine technology.
“HPDF (High pressure injection dual fuel) engines using LNG emitted 4% more life-cycle GHG emissions than if they used MGO. The most popular LNG engine technology is low-pressure dual fuel, four-stroke, medium-speed, which is used on at least 300 ships; it is especially popular with LNG- fueled cruise ships,” the report said.
“Results show this technology emitted 70% more life-cycle GHGs when it used LNG instead of MGO and 82% more than using MGO in a comparable medium-speed diesel (MSD) engine,” ICCT concluded.
