Fuel transition technologies 鈥� Methane abatement
Natural gas can reduce the emissions of shipping by up to 23% when used as a marine fuel. There is however a concern across the shipping industry of the environmental impact of Methane Slip. Methane Slip is a term used to describe the release of unburnt natural gas in a ship's engine after combustion. Shell is a partner in the GREEN RAY project, which aims to develop three innovative technologies to minimise or eliminate methane slip.
The challenge
A major challenge in methane slip reduction is being able to measure and quantify the percentage of natural gas left over in exhaust gases from ships in the first place. To overcome this, Shell has partnered with a company called SICK to install specialist equipment on one of Shell's LNG bunker vessels. This equipment will measure for the first time the precentage of natural gas in exhaust gases during real-world vessel operations. This will allow Shell and partners to then develop solutions appropriately sized to reduce or eliminate methane slip. Shell aims to expand the deployment of methane measuring technology to other vessels and engine types to understand the scale of the methane slip problem.
The solution
Shell, as part of the EU funded GREEN RAY project, is working with industry partners to develop and deploy three technologies that have the potential to significantly reduce or even eliminate methane slip from a ship's exhaust. This would help to improve further the emissions reductions achievable from using natural gas as a marine fuel. Shell Ventures is also a shareholder in a company called Daphne, which is devleoping another technical solution to the methane slip problem.
The outcomes
Shell is collaborating with its industry partners to deploy methane slip abatement technology on vessels over the next few years. Updates on progress of technology development and deployment are provided on the GREEN RAY project website:
Customer testimonials
Grant Gassner, Director for Integrated Systems and Solutions, Wartsila
Why do you see methane slip as a challenge facing the maritime industry?
"Natural gas is an abundant and clean fuel widely available that provides a significant reduction in local emissions such as SOx, NOx and Particulate Matter in addition to an approximate 25% reduction in GHG emissions compared to liquid marine fossil fuels. For the time being natural gas provides a technically proven and commercially viable means to achieve an immediate step change in emissions compared to tradition liquid marine fuels. Furthermore, bio-methane and synthetic methane can be deployed on a wider scale in the future to achieve carbon neutral shipping using already existing technology and LNG infrastructure.
One long-standing technical challenge in the deployment of LNG as a marine fuel is the fact that methane is recognized as a potent greenhouse gas when released to the atmosphere. It is therefore of utmost importance to eliminate the release of methane into the atmosphere across the entire well to wake value chain, including methane slip emissions from combustion engines. Elimination of methane slip is therefore of utmost importance to enable LNG to reach its full potential in accelerating the decarbonization of shipping. Tremendous progress in reducing methane slip from gas engines has already been achieved and W盲rtsil盲 will continue to develop and deploy new technologies to eliminate methane slip.
Why did you chose to partner with Shell to reduce methane slip?
鈥淲盲rtsil盲鈥檚 collaboration with Shell dates back to 2007 which is a testament to the shared values between the two companies. Deployment of LNG as a marine fuel and tackling methane slip are common targets shared by W盲rtsil盲 and Shell and partnering up with one of the world s leading energy companies guarantees that all advancement will be deployed on a large scale, maximising its impact on the environment and on the society.
How satisfied you are with our partnership?
"As the global leader in innovative technologies and lifecycle solutions for the marine industry we prioritise excellence, innovation and quality in all we do, and Shell is no different. Our longstanding cooperation with Shell is a testament to the success of our cooperation. Looking forward, we believe our common target to accelerate the energy transformation towards zero emission requires even stronger collaboration across the industry and our partnership and contributions will only continue to flourish."
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