ALTERNATIVE FUELS
CHINA UPS PACE IN DRIVE TOWARDS ALTERNATIVE FUELS In line with China's aim to reach carbon neutrality before 2060, and to focus on ensuring its greenhouse gas emissions peak in the next decade, China Classification Society (CCS) Wuhan branch is stepping up its focus on alternative fuels. Earlier in 2021, CCS Wuhan branch awarded China's first certificate of type approval for a marine fuel cell product to Wuhan-based PEM fuel cell supplier Troowin Power System Technology Co. This will provide a "new channel" for the application of hydrogen fuel cells on ships. This is just part of its work towards a zero-carbon future in line with President Xi's announcement, to the United Nations in September 2020, that China will reach carbon neutrality before 2060 and ensure its greenhouse gas emissions peak in the next decade. "The Chinese government has established a long-term goal to become a carbon neutral country by 2060," said Jia Siqing, General Manager of Industrial Products for CCS Wuhan branch. “We must also reach the peak of carbon emissions before 2030. As the marine industry is one of the major sources of these emissions, it must make its share of the contribution to this inspiring target." CCS had been actively researching low or zero emission fuels long before these new targets were announced. For example, as far back as 2013, CCS was already exploring hydrogen and seeking to quantify its potential in everything from powering fuel cells to how to tackle a hydrogen-fuelled fire. At the same time, its researchers were also evaluating a host of alternatives, such as liquified natural gas (LNG), various alcohols, bio-fuels, ammonia and renewable electricity from wind and solar. They also looked at how these could be harnessed more efficiently with better power management systems. Even once a new technology is proven, CCS goes further, running exhaustive tests to decide if the application would be practical. "Take the use of bio-fuel," said Siqing's colleague, Luo Xiaofeng, Director of CCS Rules & Research Institute in Wuhan. "With China having such a large population, we need all the available farmland to feed our people. This means biofuel isn't a solution for us - we can't grow crops for powering our ships." THE RISE OF HYDROGEN By contrast, hydrogen is abundant and is an ideal candidate as a zero-emission fuel in internal combustion engines. Hydrogen can also react with a catalyst to create electricity in a fuel cell, and so power an electric drive train. CCS published its first reliable guidelines for harnessing hydrogen as a commercial marine fuel as long ago as 2015, 'Guidelines for Application of Fuel Cell System'. In 2017, this was followed by 'Guidelines For Ships Using Alternative Fuels'. These guidelines were updated in 2020. The detailed research found a hydrogen-enabled ship could be as safe as one powered by conventional fuels such as diesel. However, this comes with caveats. "No fuel is absolutely safe by nature," said Jia Siqing. "Only good management can ensure that level of safety. We think that hydrogen has some very distinctive characteristics
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which make it easy to manage. So, in that sense, it is inherently safe." Jia Siqing also supports the policy of allowing leaking gas to easily escape to atmosphere, rather than forming a gas cloud between decks. "The marine environment has issues very different from land-use hydrogen," he said. "These include vibration, high and low temperatures, tilting and swinging, damp and other stressors that need to be tested for verification. Hydrogen fuel cells are usually installed in a small engine space. We protect this space with an enclosure, and then discharge any leaked
8 Luo Xiaofeng, the Director of CCS Rules & Research Institute in Wuhan
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Hydrogen is clearly the future. In China, we are asking all our stakeholders to help us to achieve the zeroemission solution for shipping, and no later than 2060 For the latest news and analysis go to www.motorship.com/news101
