Methane leakage of LNG-powered vessels

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has been promoted as a more sustainable alternative to traditional diesel fuel for inland waterway transport, as it reduces particulate emissions. However, the currently dominant propulsion system for LNG-powered vessels (dual fuel engines) causes significant methane leakage, leading to a higher greenhouse gas footprint and exacerbating climate change due to the high global warming potential of methane.

Nº 86

1) North Sea, Utö Island

2) Netherlands, Rotterdam

  • Climate & Atmosphere
  • Energy Emission Reduction
  • Promotion of Natural Gas
some attempts made
past case
Region-1
Region-2
Region-3
Region-4
ongoing case
no attempts made

None

Methane leakage of LNG-powered vessels

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) has been promoted as a more sustainable alternative to traditional diesel fuel for inland waterway transport, as it reduces particulate emissions. However, the currently dominant propulsion system for LNG-powered vessels (dual fuel engines) causes significant methane leakage, leading to a higher greenhouse gas footprint and exacerbating climate change due to the high global warming potential of methane.

1) From 2015 to 2021, there was an increase in the use of LNG fuels in marine vessels. However, it was found that these vessels faced methane slip issues related to their fuel type. While high-pressure dual-fuel engines had a lower methane emission rate compared to CO2 emissions (ΔCH4/ΔCO2. ranging from 0.1% to 0.5%, enabling these ships to meet emission reduction targets), low-pressure dual-fuel engines had higher emissions ranging from 1% to 9%. These increased emissions can have a greater impact on the climate than the use of conventional fuels alone.

2) The organisation Transport & Environment carried out an analysis in Rotterdam which showed that significant quantities of methane were escaping from LNG-fuelled ships. This finding provided evidence that significant levels of unburned hydrocarbon emissions were being released into the atmosphere through the ship’s three exhaust vents.

  • Frustrated the efforts to address the initial problem
  • Singular (only one effect)

1) Grönholm, T., Mäkelä, T., Hatakka, J., Jalkanen, J.-P., Kuula, J., Laurila, T., . . . Kukkonen, J. (2021). Evaluation of Methane Emissions Originating from LNG Ships Based on the Measurements at a Remote Marine Station. Environ. Science Technology, 55, 13677–13686.

2) TE. (2020). Methane escaping from ’green’ gas-powered ships fuelling climate crisis – Investigation. Transport & Environment. Available at https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/methane-escaping-from-green-gas-powered-ships-fuelling-climate-crisis-investigation/

Deng, J., Wang, X., Wei, Z., Wang, L., Wang, C., & Chen, Z. (2021). A review of NOx and SOx emission reduction technologies for marine diesel engines and the potential evaluation of liquefied natural gas fuelled vessels. Science of The Total Environment, 766, 144319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144319

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