Fate, Behaviour, Potential Damage & Liabilities Arising from a Spill of Methanol in the Marine Environment

This report focuses on methanol as a non-traditional marine fuel. Methanol is considered to be a promising low-carbon fuel for the shipping industry, as it is easier to store than ammonia, LNG or hydrogen with low tank-to-wake emissions. However, well-to-tank emissions, upstream CO2 emissions from the production, transportation, transformation and distribution of the fuel to the vessel, vary depending on the source of hydrogen used to synthesise the methanol. Currently, methanol is primarily produced from natural gas, which has a high carbon intensity. Methanol from fossil sources such as natural gas and coal are referred to as grey methanol and brown methanol respectively. Methanol from fossil sources with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is labelled as blue methanol and CO2 emission-free methanol from biomass sources or renewable electricity is labelled as green methanol.

Categories: Alternative Fuels, Papers