LNG to Dominate Ship Fueling Within 40 Years, Det Norske Says - Bloomberg

Posted - November 19, 2100 - Bloomberg - By Alaric Nightingale

Liquefied natural gas will become the dominant fuel source for all merchant ships within 40 years as environmental pressures force owners to use cleaner burning fuel, the world’s fourth-largest vessel classifier said.
Ships must cut emissions of sulfur oxides, a pollutant said to cause acid rain, to 0.5 percent by 2020 from 4.5 percent today under rules from the International Maritime Organization. In more environmentally sensitive areas, the upper limit drops to 0.1 percent by 2015 from 1 percent today.
“Environmental requirements aren’t going to get any less strict,” Lars Petter Blikom, segment director for LNG at Det Norske Veritas, a company that verifies ships are seaworthy, said in a Nov. 16 interview in London. “That’s just going to make gas even more compelling and there’s no other realistic option.”
LNG, natural gas chilled to 1/600th of its gaseous size, costs $397.28 a metric ton, according to Spectron. Bunker fuel oil with a sulfur content of 4.5 percent and a viscosity of 380 centistokes costs $475.26 a ton, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from 25 ports. Nitrogen oxides trigger reactions that lead to the formation of ozone, a pollutant that irritates eyes and lungs.

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