Maersk will use green methanol for dual-fuel ship's maiden voyage, but it won't be made from green hydrogen

Maersk, the Danish shipping giant, has announced that its first dual-fuel methanol-ready ship will embark on its maiden voyage powered by green methanol. However, the methanol will not be derived from green hydrogen due to the underdeveloped supply chain. Maersk has partnered with OCI, a Dutch green fuels and fertiliser producer, to supply the green methanol, which will be produced from biomethane obtained from organic matter in municipal solid waste.

To produce the green methanol, the biomethane is certified to meet International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) standards for biomass. It is then heated to form syngas, which consists of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. The syngas is further synthesized into methanol using the same process employed to produce ammonia from natural gas. The first methanol-powered container ship, part of a series of 19 ships to be delivered to Maersk over the next three years, will depart from South Korea's Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, stopping at several ports for refueling en route to Europe via the Suez Canal. It will arrive in Copenhagen in September and begin operating in the Baltic Sea.

OCI's plant in Beaumont, Texas, will supply the bio-methanol for this voyage. Although no further agreements have been reached for future fuel supplies, OCI hopes to demonstrate its bunkering expertise and potentially establish future supply agreements. While the carbon molecule in the bio-methanol is derived from organic matter instead of fossil fuels, it does emit more emissions compared to e-methanol, also known as green methanol, which is produced using renewable hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide.

OCI stated that it is currently impossible to supply renewable hydrogen-derived methanol along the ship's entire route due to logistical constraints and limited availability. However, as subsidies for green hydrogen production increase in the coming years, it is expected that green-hydrogen-derived methanol will become more readily available. Nonetheless, experts have warned of a potential supply squeeze for green methanol in general as multiple sectors strive to decarbonize simultaneously.

Several companies, such as Orsted and Iberdrola, have made investments in green methanol production plants powered by electrolyzers. Denmark's Orsted plans to operate a green methanol plant in Sweden in 2025, while Iberdrola intends to build a plant in Australia capable of producing green hydrogen-derived methanol. Maersk, with the aim of shifting to ammonia fuel once the technology is viable, plans to reduce per-container emissions by 50% by 2030 through early adoption of methanol-fueled voyages.

While there is a theoretical limit to the production of bio-methanol based on the availability of bio-methane from organic sources, OCI estimates that the US alone has enough biogenic carbon dioxide from paper, ethanol, and power plants to produce 100 million tonnes of bio-methanol. Despite OCI considering bio-methanol more reliable than green hydrogen-derived alternatives, the company is diversifying its production mix to leverage the superior decarbonization properties of green methanol produced from renewable electricity.