No ‘green’ marine fuel will dominate short-term

Gunnar Stiesch, CTO of MAN Energy Solutions

The next few years will see rapid adoption of ammonia as a marine fuel, but no “green” fuel will dominate the market by the end of the decade, according to Gunnar Stiesch, CTO of MAN Energy Solutions.

Stiesch made his comment during a presentation at the 30th CIMAC Congress in Busan, South Korea. The presentation, “A comprehensive hydrogen value chain for a sustainable energy transition,” was co-authored by Stiesch and Florian Gruschwitz, senior business development manager at MAN.

Stiesch said that methanol “is the fuel of the hour” in the marine market and predicted methanol and methane will “dominate” orders for dual fuel engines in the near future. He also expects “rapid” adoption of ammonia, but no fuel will become the consensus choice.

“By 2020, it’s hard to see any fuel dominating,” Stiesch said. “There will be no clear winner any time soon.”

MAN Energy Solutions has more than 100 large engines that can operate on less carbon-intensive fuels, such as methanol and ammonia. The CO2 reduction from those engines--some 9.2 MTPA--equals removing 4.5 million passenger cars, Stiesch said. 

He noted the move to decarbonization in power generation will likely mean more internal combustion engines in the market, not fewer. That’s because they’ll be increasingly needed to help support more wind and solar installations.

Since those engines will be used for support--running perhaps 1000 to 3000 hours a year instead of 6000 to 8000--may require design changes, Stiesch said.