Chevron Works Toward Cleaner LNG for Shippers

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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) (San Ramon, California) and marine and energy technology firm Wartsila Corporation (Helsinki, Finland) are working to lower emissions from the shipping sector by converting ship engines to burn gas more efficiently.

Wartsila and the shipping division of Chevron agreed to convert one engine each on six different liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers from dual-fuel to spark-gas operations.

The partners explained that spark ignition is a more efficient way to initiate combustion, which in turn improves efficiency and lowers the amount of methane emissions coming out of the LNG sector.

LNG is a form of natural gas, which comprises mostly methane. Natural gas is seen as a bridge to a cleaner future, though critics of the LNG sector note that the entire supply chain is vulnerable to methane emissions.

When used as a fuel, some methane is released into the atmosphere. As a greenhouse gas, methane is far more prone to trap heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

"This innovative project represents a notable step forward on the road to advancing lower carbon fleets," said Roger Holm, the president of Wartsila's marine division.

Dubbed methane slip, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a U.N-backed agency overseeing global shipping, aims to eliminate methane emissions from LNG combustion on ships within the decade.

IMO regulations call on shippers to cut emissions in general. Shippers can opt to employ an onboard device, called a "scrubber," that cleans the exhaust, or opt for cleaner fuels such as LNG or ammonia.

Many shippers use heavy fuel oil, which is high in sulfur, a leading component of acid rain. Apart from its recent agreement with Wartsila, announced Thursday, Chevron's shipping division signed a recent deal with Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Limited (MOL) (Tokyo, Japan) to use the Wind Challenger system for a newbuild LNG carrier, under construction at the Geoje shipyard in South Korea.

Wind Challenger is a hard-sail, wind-assisted propulsion system for the vessel, and the companies said the as-yet-named ship would be the first LNG carrier to have a wind-assisted propulsion system.

Cargill Incorporated (Geneva, Switzerland) in March said the results of a six-month trial for wind-assisted propulsion on a cargo vessel led to a significant reduction in fuel usage, cutting 37% of the emissions from a comparable journey with conventional fuels.

More than 90% of all the goods traded globally are carried by a ship at some point during their voyage, and recent geopolitical tensions are forcing shippers to log more miles to avoid risks. Shipping giant Maersk (Copenhagen, Denmark) said early this year it was rerouting its ships away from the Red Sea to the Cape of Good Hope off South Africa to avoid attacks from the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen.

Maersk says it is using 40% more fuel per journey because of the situation in the Red Sea. The company also says charter rates are three times higher than normal. With the U.S. military redeploying its assets away from the Red Sea to focus more on threats in the Mediterranean region, geopolitical risk could offset some of the emissions savings seen coming from IMO protocols.

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