Experts: Trinidad and Tobago in perfect position for clean maritime fuel industry

AS THE maritime sector faces increasing pressure to mitigate its greenhouse gas emissions, advancements in alternative fuels such as hydrogen, ammonia and biofuels are gaining more attention as these fuels can provide energy for the industry without the fallout of high-carbon emissions.

At the Caribbean sustainable energy conference held by the TT Energy Chamber on June 2, a panel of experts in the area including Roger Strevens, director of Methanex’s low carbon, regulation and advocacy department; Dr Tristan Smith of the UCL Energy Institute; commercial manager for Paria Fuel Trading Lydia Dindial; and chairman of the decarbonisation taskforce at the Energy Chamber, Dr Dale Ramlakhan all agreed that TT continued to be in the perfect position to capitalise on the changing tides in the global maritime sector.

Smith, who has been working on decarbonising the shipping industry for 15 years, said there was a shift in the industry toward alternative fuel, driven by regulations for the shipping industry.

He said the Caribbean, which was frequented by different ships across different routes, could use multiple pathways to decarbonising the sector in the region but ultimately, a significant amount of investment would be needed for proper transition.

He said the International Maritime Organisation committed to an absolute emission reduction by fully transitioning to zero-emission fuels by 2050.

“Those absolute emissions reductions are happening at the same time that global trade is growing,” Smith said. “When you put those two facts together you get that the average CO2 emissions has to be reduced by around 60 per cent by 2030.”

He said a transition that large would need a fundamental shift away from fossil fuels.

He noted that in the Caribbean, cruise vessels dominated the seas and used the most energy with most islands utilising cruise ships more than ships for cargo, energy transporting and freight.

Strevens described the commitment as ambitious.

“Shipping is a huge, diverse industry,” he said. “It is the original global industry. The increase in operational specifics, both commercially and technically and the economic set up is really wide-ranging.”

He said for the industry to transition at the scale it had committed to, a significant amount of investment would be needed. He said investors needed to develop a long-term perspective on the maritime industry.

“There is a nice parallel between the shipping industry and its view on investment. A ship will typically operate between 25-30 years and they need to plan that far into the future. The same thing goes for fuel production. We need to think in decades.”

He said methanol, of which Methanex is the world’s largest producer, is one of the best choices for decarbonising the maritime fuel industry, noting that methanol has multiple production pathways, is easy to handle because it could be stored at room temperature and it is also cheaper to store.

“You probably already have heard about blue fuels (fuel produced by gases reused from another industrial purpose) and green fuels (alternative fuels produced through the use of renewable energy), but at this stage, those kinds don’t cover the variety of different pathways that are possible to produce fuel.”

He said different fuels could be produced with a variety of greenhouse gas intensity.

One type of fuel described by Dindial was hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) which is a fuel produced with 100 per cent renewable oil, such as used vegetable cooking oil, palm oil and animal fats.

“It is very similar to petroleum based oil so it can be used for bunkers and can also be used in tugs and launchers at airports,” she said.

She said Paria’s first shipment of HVO was expected in late July or early August.

“We have customers that are already interested in that and we will be taking up this product at our port in Pointe-a-Pierre.”

She said methanol was also a product that Paria was looking toward for bunkering.

In August 2024, Methanex and its subsidiary Waterfront Shipping completed its first ship-to-ship methanol bunkering exercise in the Caribbean. It was done in a demonstration that was made possible through collaboration with Paria Fuel Trading Company, NYK, Green Marine, Bunker Holding, Uni-Tankers and Dan Bunkering.

“We are looking to partner with producers in TT as well as the regulators. Our debunkering regulations are not in place for renewables in TT. So we have to push that with the regulators.”

She added that Paria was looking at trade in the region for alternative fuels, along with increasing short-term storage capacity for renewable fuels.