According to the experts, the fuel mix in the maritime sector relies entirely on fossil fuels. This is the result of insufficient incentives to cut gas emissions and the lack of affordable and globally utilisable technological alternatives to fossil fuels in this specific sector. The interdependencies between supply, the distribution and the demand of fuels, as well as the lack of information on future regulatory requirements reinforce the current problems.
On 14th July 2021, the European Commission presented the FuelEU Maritime initiative within its “Fit for 55 Package”, which is a set of proposals to update EU legislation with the aim of ensuring that EU policies are in line with the climate goals agreed by the Council and the European Parliament. The objective of these legislative proposals is to reach the emission targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 to at the least 55%. The European Parliament adopted the FuelEU Maritime Initiative on 19th October 2022. The proposals will accelerate the maritime industry’s decarbonisation through the adoption of renewable and low-carbon fuels and technologies.
In order to achieve this goal, the FuelEU Maritime initiative proposes a common EU regulatory framework to increase the share of renewable and low-carbon fuels in the fuel mix of international maritime transport without creating barriers to the single market. The proposals include alimitation to thecarbon intensity of the energy used on board ships and control over the use of onshore power supply (OPS) in EU ports.
The cut of annual average GHG intensity of energy used on board ships is scheduled to be in place from 2025 and will reach 80% by 2050. Moreover, the FuelEU Maritime initiative introduces a target of 2% for the use of renewable fuels of non-biological origin from 2030.
REFERENCES:
Soone, J. (2022). FuelEU Maritime – Sustainable maritime fuels | Think Tank | European Parliament. [online] www.europarl.europa.eu. Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_ATA(2022)733689 [Accessed 3 Nov. 2022].
European Commission (2021). Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the use of renewable and low-carbon fuels in maritime transport and amending Directive 2009/16/EC. [online] Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/fueleu_maritime_-_green_european_maritime_space.pdf.
www.europarl.europa.eu. (2022). Texts adopted – Sustainable maritime fuels (FuelEU Maritime Initiative) ***I – Wednesday, 19 October 2022. [online] Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0367_EN.html [Accessed 3 Nov. 2022].
Pape, M. (2022). BRIEFING EU Legislation in Progress Sustainable maritime fuels ‘Fit for 55’ package: The FuelEU Maritime proposal OVERVIEW. [online] Available at: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2021/698808/EPRS_BRI(2021)698808_EN.pdf.
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