Mia Elg
R&D
Manager
Deltamarin Ltd.
Finland
I feel that the maritime industry is on the brink of a significant transformation, driven by the green transition. I began my career with studying and improving ship energy efficiency 17 years ago, and while energy and environmental efficiency have always been relevant, progress in design has been incremental and rather slow. But now, the green transition in shipping is advancing on multiple fronts. End customers and cargo owners are demanding greener, more transparent supply chains for their products. Furthermore, securing financing for shipbuilding increasingly depends on demonstrating the vessel’s environmental performance. Most importantly, for practical design and engineering, the rules governing ship environmental performance are undergoing rigorous development.
From a technical standpoint, the green transition for ships means minimising their environmental impact across various emission- and waste categories, and sustainability criteria. However, the most immediate focus is currently on reducing carbon-equivalent emissions, with a shift from purely measuring ship emissions to a “well-to-wake” perspective. Decarbonisation involves both increasing energy efficiency through operational and technical improvements, as well as achieving absolute emissions reductions through the use of clean fuels. Electrification, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power, and carbon capture are also part of the “absolute emission reduction” toolbox. One of the key technical challenges in decarbonising ships is that new, cleaner fuels and technologies require additional space, increased weight and introduce new safety risks compared to traditional designs.
The goal of achieving “net-zero by 2050” means that many of the ships being designed today will need to operate in a decarbonised manner during their lifetime. That is why each new design project already faces a large selection of fundamental questions beyond the typical conceptual design process. First, what “net zero” fuels or energy sources shall be considered for this vessel over its operational lifetime? Second, which major energy-saving or emissions-control technologies should be incorporated into the ship’s design? Finally, what machinery solutions will best support these choices? In the past, these questions were clear for each major ship type.
From a ship design perspective, I can assure you that we are ready. The logical next step, and my personal focus in ship design development, is on holistic modeling of systems efficiency - simulating various operational and regulatory scenarios. We now have many new technologies, increased digitalisation, vast operational data, and growing computational power for machine learning and optimisation. With these, we can design much more efficient ships than we could a decade ago. For example, in a recent EU-funded joint-industry project, we demonstrated that a combination of good design and energy-saving technologies can reduce energy consumption by 50% compared to a state-of-the-art ship in operation. Such efficiency gains would allow us to store less “green fuel” onboard – a logical consequence of this step. Achieving these goals required a new level in collaboration – technically, but even more so on a human level. In creating new energy systems, diverse thinking, a trusting environment, and a shared goal are crucial.
While I would like to conclude on this positive note, I feel compelled to send a strong message to our industry and legislators. Despite the complexity of design, I believe that the greatest obstacle to shipping decarbonisation is that the current regulatory framework does not yet require sufficiently ambitious reductions in absolute emissions from the global fleet. This would necessitate the adoption of clean fuels and zero-emission technologies. As a result, many ships today are designed to be “ready” for methanol, hydrogen or ammonia, but they aren’t being built to run on these fuels from day one. We currently lack the infrastructure for green fuel production and distribution, as well as the commercial incentives to drive these changes. Due to the current fuel prices, many energy efficiency investments are being piloted but ultimately shelfed, waiting for better economic conditions.
Regulatory incentives for emissions reductions are only now being introduced in the EU, with the Emission Trading System (ETS) and the upcoming FuelEU Maritime directive encouraging the uptake of low-carbon fuels. The IMO is lagging behind in this development but will hopefully catches up soon. To make green shipping a reality, policies must develop in a consistent and rigorous manner, pushing forward the necessary infrastructure for clean fuels and technologies. Once the incentives are in place, business will follow. Still, it feels like the shipping world is ready for decarbonisation - with us ship designers in the front row!