IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i3p605-d1327388.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Methanol, a Plugin Marine Fuel for Green House Gas Reduction—A Review

Author

Listed:
  • Dimitrios Parris

    (Department of Management Science and Technology, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece)

  • Konstantinos Spinthiropoulos

    (Department of Management Science and Technology, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece)

  • Konstantina Ragazou

    (Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece
    Department of Business Administration, Neapolis University Pafos, Pafos 8042, Cyprus)

  • Anna Giovou

    (Customs Control Service of Thessaloniki, 57001 DrosiaThermis, Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Constantinos Tsanaktsidis

    (Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece)

Abstract

The escalating global demand for goods transport via shipping has heightened energy consumption, impacting worldwide health and the environment. To mitigate this, international organizations aim to achieve complete fuel desulphurization and decarbonization by 50% by 2050. Investigating eco-friendly fuels is crucial, particularly those with a reduced carbon and zero sulfur content. Methanol derived mainly from renewable sources and produced by carbon dioxide’s hydrogenation method, stands out as an effective solution for GHG reduction. Leveraging its favorable properties, global scalability, and compatibility with the existing infrastructure, especially LNGs, methanol proves to be a cost-efficient and minimally disruptive alternative. This review explores methanol’s role as a hybrid maritime fuel, emphasizing its ecological production methods, advantages, and challenges in the shipping industry’s green transition. It discusses the environmental impacts of methanol use and analyzes economic factors, positioning methanol not only as an eco-friendly option, but also as a financially prudent choice for global shipping. Methanol is efficient and cost-effective and excels over MGO, especially in new ships. It is economically advantageous, with decreasing investment costs compared to LNG, while providing flexibility without specialized pressure tanks. Global marine fuel trends prioritize fuel traits, accessibility, and environmental considerations, incorporating factors like policies, emissions, bunkering, and engine adaptability during transitions.

Suggested Citation

  • Dimitrios Parris & Konstantinos Spinthiropoulos & Konstantina Ragazou & Anna Giovou & Constantinos Tsanaktsidis, 2024. "Methanol, a Plugin Marine Fuel for Green House Gas Reduction—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-29, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:3:p:605-:d:1327388
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/3/605/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/3/605/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mwangi, John Kennedy & Lee, Wen-Jhy & Chang, Yu-Cheng & Chen, Chia-Yang & Wang, Lin-Chi, 2015. "An overview: Energy saving and pollution reduction by using green fuel blends in diesel engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 214-236.
    2. Leduc, S. & Lundgren, J. & Franklin, O. & Dotzauer, E., 2010. "Location of a biomass based methanol production plant: A dynamic problem in northern Sweden," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 68-75, January.
    3. Patrizia Serra & Gianfranco Fancello, 2020. "Towards the IMO’s GHG Goals: A Critical Overview of the Perspectives and Challenges of the Main Options for Decarbonizing International Shipping," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-32, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huopana, Tuomas & Song, Han & Kolehmainen, Mikko & Niska, Harri, 2013. "A regional model for sustainable biogas electricity production: A case study from a Finnish province," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 676-686.
    2. Babu, D. & Karvembu, R. & Anand, R., 2018. "Impact of split injection strategy on combustion, performance and emissions characteristics of biodiesel fuelled common rail direct injection assisted diesel engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(PB), pages 577-592.
    3. Basile, Flavia & Pilotti, Lorenzo & Ugolini, Marco & Lozza, Giovanni & Manzolini, Giampaolo, 2022. "Supply chain optimization and GHG emissions in biofuel production from forestry residues in Sweden," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 405-421.
    4. Patrizio, P. & Leduc, S. & Chinese, D. & Kraxner, F., 2017. "Internalizing the external costs of biogas supply chains in the Italian energy sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 85-96.
    5. Orestis Schinas & Niklas Bergmann, 2021. "The Short-Term Cost of Greening the Global Fleet," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-32, August.
    6. Mobini, Mahdi & Sowlati, Taraneh & Sokhansanj, Shahab, 2011. "Forest biomass supply logistics for a power plant using the discrete-event simulation approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 1241-1250, April.
    7. Moonchan Kim & Jungmo Oh & Changhee Lee, 2018. "Study on Combustion and Emission Characteristics of Marine Diesel Oil and Water-In-Oil Emulsified Marine Diesel Oil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-16, July.
    8. Suneet Singh & Ashish Dwivedi & Saurabh Pratap, 2023. "Sustainable Maritime Freight Transportation: Current Status and Future Directions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-23, April.
    9. Truong, Nguyen Le & Gustavsson, Leif, 2013. "Integrated biomass-based production of district heat, electricity, motor fuels and pellets of different scales," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 623-632.
    10. Holmgren, Kristina M. & Berntsson, Thore S. & Andersson, Eva & Rydberg, Tomas, 2015. "The influence of biomass supply chains and by-products on the greenhouse gas emissions from gasification-based bio-SNG production systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P1), pages 148-162.
    11. Daianova, L. & Dotzauer, E. & Thorin, E. & Yan, J., 2012. "Evaluation of a regional bioenergy system with local production of biofuel for transportation, integrated with a CHP plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 739-749.
    12. Wei, L. & Cheung, C.S. & Ning, Z., 2017. "Influence of waste cooking oil biodiesel on combustion, unregulated gaseous emissions and particulate emissions of a direct-injection diesel engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 175-185.
    13. Zhang, Jun & Osmani, Atif & Awudu, Iddrisu & Gonela, Vinay, 2013. "An integrated optimization model for switchgrass-based bioethanol supply chain," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 1205-1217.
    14. Zhang, Jun & Wong, Victor W. & Shuai, Shijin & Chen, Yu & Sappok, Alexander, 2018. "Quantitative estimation of the impact of ash accumulation on diesel particulate filter related fuel penalty for a typical modern on-road heavy-duty diesel engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 1010-1023.
    15. Matthias Klumpp, 2016. "To Green or Not to Green: A Political, Economic and Social Analysis for the Past Failure of Green Logistics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-22, May.
    16. Mohd Idris, Muhammad Nurariffudin & Hashim, Haslenda & Leduc, Sylvain & Yowargana, Ping & Kraxner, Florian & Woon, Kok Sin, 2021. "Deploying bioenergy for decarbonizing Malaysian energy sectors and alleviating renewable energy poverty," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    17. Inam Ullah Khan & Zhenhua Yan & Jun Chen, 2020. "Production and Characterization of Biodiesel Derived from a Novel Source Koelreuteria paniculata Seed Oil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-15, February.
    18. El-Zoheiry, Radwan M. & EL-Seesy, Ahmed I. & Attia, Ali M.A. & He, Zhixia & El-Batsh, Hesham M., 2020. "Combustion and emission characteristics of Jojoba biodiesel-jet A1 mixtures applying a lean premixed pre-vaporized combustion techniques: An experimental investigation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 2227-2245.
    19. Osmani, Atif & Zhang, Jun, 2014. "Economic and environmental optimization of a large scale sustainable dual feedstock lignocellulosic-based bioethanol supply chain in a stochastic environment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 572-587.
    20. Kolb, Sebastian & Plankenbühler, Thomas & Hofmann, Katharina & Bergerson, Joule & Karl, Jürgen, 2021. "Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of renewable gas technologies: A comparative review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:3:p:605-:d:1327388. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.