Page 23: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2020)

The Author (drop-in biofuels) that would minimize capital expenditures, electro-synthetic

Plevrakis fuels are being actively explored by

Georgios Plevrakis is the Global Sustainability Director at the major national and sector-focused

American Bureau of Shipping.

shipping organizations.

In the long term, 2nd- and 3rd- generation biofuels (e.g., from waste biomass, lingocellulose [woody plant ? bers] or algae) also have the potential to provide international shipping with fuel volumes that exceed its current

PROVEN Cargo Tank Lining for annual requirements.

Future-proo? ng ship-designs

CHEMICAL & PRODUCT TANKERS

With the maturity timelines for many mid- and long-term solutions currently very ? uid, a way to future-proof the design of new ships is to introduce more electrical components, such as electric drives and/or propulsion. If an owner opts for an electric drive, the generation of the onboard electricity becomes fuel agnostic; it can be from

Aggressive fuel cells, batteries – or any combina-

Cargoes tion – or an engine being run on LNG, or methanol, for example.

When/if a component needs to be up-

Easy Cleaning graded at a later date, it already has an electric drive installed. This is the way

Cargo Versatility the most advanced shipowners and charters are looking at the future.

Heat Curing &

That way, when/if the propulsion system becomes outdated, it does not

Inspection have to be wholly replaced; the engine can be updated to burn another fuel.

Long Term

Or, if fuel cell technologies advance

Performance enough over the next 20 years, they can replace the engines, if it makes economic sense.

Helvetia

Granted, current electric propulsion

Insurance systems have some challenges to over- come, but owners would still be well counselled to start introducing elec- trical installations into their designs: power output or input; minimize the

Advanced Polymer Coatings diesel generators; optimize generator

Avon, Ohio 44011 U.S.A. and prime-mover loads; and make the +1 440-444-9836 Phone whole design more ef? cient. In doing www.adv-polymer.com/mr so, owners would take another small step towards minimizing the carbon- footprint of their ? eet.

www.marinelink.com 23

MR #2 (18-33).indd 23 2/6/2020 4:23:34 PM