Since the turn of the century the interest in improving the energy efficiency of marine transportation has, in large measure, been driven by the drastic increase in the price of marine fuel (Fig. 1).

The financial crisis in 2008 brought the world economy to an almost complete stop and the low demand for oil led to a steep drop in the price of marine fuel. At the same time the demand for sea transport saw a similar steep drop. The consequence was that the interest that had been built up for investing in energy efficiency measures, was instead changed to a complete focus on fuel-efficient operation with minimum investment.

There was a huge oversupply of tonnage in 2009. All shipowners who sat on new shipbuilding contracts attempted to cancel, but a large number of newly constructed ships still entered the already over-saturated and depressed market. Slow-steaming became the name of the game, not in response to environmental concerns, but rather for damage control and as a way to fit more ships into the system.

The sharp increase in the fuel price in 2010 brought back the interest in investing in energy efficiency measures. Between 2010 and 2014, a large number of studies and projects were initiated by individual shipowners, class societies and shipowner associations. The supplier industry also saw the return of significant business opportunities once the payback time for implementation of energy efficiency measures started to look attractive from a commercial investment perspective. The interest was also boosted by the then upcoming implementation, 1 January 2015, of stricter rules for sulphur content in marine fuel for operation in the north European sulphur emission control area (SECA). A corresponding dramatic fuel cost increase was expected to hit the business and the top priority was to find ways to save fuel.

The introduction of SECA on 1 January 2015 happened to coincide with the largest drop in fuel price since 2008. The interest in fuel efficiency measures did not end with the fall in fuel price, but the focus was shifted and many decisions for investments in energy efficiency measures were postponed.

That is more or less where we stand today. We know that marine transport, together with the rest of the industry, must consistently improve energy efficiency for the long-term. Global growth will require more products and transport, but despite this growth the total energy usage must be reduced in order to improve the chances of replacing fossil fuel with renewable energy alternatives to limit global warming.

Many of the initiatives that were launched before the latest fuel price drop are still very active. At Chalmers University of Technology in the Department of Shipping and Marine Technology, a cross-divisional group has been formed with the objective to enhance the understanding of the energy efficiency aspects from technical, operational, environmental and societal perspectives. The initiative is called Profile Area Energy Efficiency (PAEE). The work of the group can be followed on www.paee.se

It is understood that long-term consistent improvements of the energy efficiency in shipping will require no stone to be left unturned.

The structure of the work is dynamic, but three main areas of interest have currently been identified:

1. Ship systems energy modelling;

• Forces, energy and power inside and outside the ship.

2. Energy efficient performance;

• Optimised marine transport system;
  • Ship type, capacity, speed etc.; and
  • Sea traffic simulation and optimisation.
• Energy efficient on-board operation;
  • Training and education; and
  • Motivation

3. Business and policies;

• The role of shipping in an energy and resource efficient society; and
• Environmental and energy efficient marine fuels.

In the activity ‘ship systems energy modelling’ a generic energy model of a ship (Fig. 2) is developed. The shipping industry needs general methods and models to judge the holistic potential energy savings of different measures or combinations of measures to implement the right options that can lead to credible energy savings. The model can be used in the initial design of new vessels to predict energy consumption, or be used to assess an existing vessel’s performance by simulating different operational profiles under varying environmental conditions.

Another useful view is to visualise the resistance components and the efficiency losses in the energy system of the ship (Fig. 3).

It gives an overview and an order of magnitude of the different components that help to understand the saving potentials, as well as an indication of where to start. All identified efficiency losses are potential savings.

As mentioned, improving energy efficiency is a long distance race that requires endurance. During periods of low energy cost the interest from the industry might, for obvious reasons, be lukewarm. Still, the reasons to maintain and even increase the efforts are as urgent as ever in order to meet the long-term targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases and to be prepared for more direct support to the industry, within the much shorter term, until fuel prices return to previous levels.

For further information regarding the energy efficiency work related to marine transport undertaken at Chalmers University of Technology, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Bengt Ramne
Professor of the Practice
Chalmers University of Technology
Department of Shipping and Marine Technology
bengt.ramne@chalmers.se
http://www.chalmers.se/en/Pages/default.aspx

The post Improving marine energy efficiency appeared first on Horizon 2020 Projects.