European shipowners strongly welcome the inclusion of clean fuels for shipping, including advanced biofuels and e-fuels, in the list of net-zero technologies adopted under the Net-Zero Industry Act on 25 April. The new law introduces a benchmark for the Commission and the EU member states to match forty per cent of the deployment needs for clean fuels for shipping with production capacity.
The last plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg for this five-year term adopted the new law, which aims to scale up industrial capacity for green technologies in Europe.
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Scaling up production and uptake
This is a vital step to ensure that clean fuels for shipping are made available in the market at an affordable price, as a prerequisite for shipping to meet its target under the FuelEU Maritime Regulation, states the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA). Scaling up the production and uptake of clean fuels for shipping is a top priority for European shipping.
‘European shipowners have consistently requested for a mandate on the European fuel suppliers to scale up and make clean, affordable and safe fuels available in the market,’ says Sotiris Raptis, ECSA’s secretary general. ‘Matching European fuel industrial capacity with the EU targets under the FuelEU Maritime is essential. We welcome the forty per cent benchmark for the production of clean fuels such as advanced biofuels and e-fuels as a stepping stone towards an international scale-up of alternative sustainable fuels for shipping. We will work closely with the Commission to ensure that the forty per cent benchmark is translated into immediate action.’
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