The future of methanol is in alternative fuels
The prospects of using methanol as an eco-friendly ship fuel were presented at the XIX International "Methanol-2024" Conference in Moscow by the delegation of Metafrax Chemicals.
A delegation of Metafrax Chemicals consisting of Ivan Feoktistov, Director of Strategy, Oleg Mamaev, Director of Commerce, Evgeny Gavrilov, Head of the Strategy Project Office, Pavel Ivanov, Head of the State Programs and Projects Department, and Mark Alkhazov, Deputy Managing Director of Metafrax Trading, took part in the specialized international conference.
The conference participants reviewed analytical forecasts of the development of methanol's demand and supply within the Russian market and export markets, which were provided by leading analytical agencies – AC TEK and Implementa. A series of discussions were held in regards to issues of state support, the readiness of the country's infrastructure for shipments of methanol to the East, advanced technologies for processing methyl alcohol within the domestic market and other pressing issues.
One of the discussion topics was the implementation of a development project for usage of methanol as a fuel in Russia, which is being implemented under the authority of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. In the course of the dialogue, Evgeny Gavrilov spoke about the prerequisites for the share increase in methanol-fueled transport ships as well as possible growth points.
There are approximately 350 orders for methanol-powered ships in the world. The environmental agenda is the main driving force for such conditions. According to MAN and Wartsila tests, methanol engines provide a 10% reduction in CO2 emissions, significantly lower nitrogen oxide emissions and sulphur oxide is completely absent. According to the expert, by 2030, the demand for methanol as ship fuel may amount to approximately 2.3 million tons per year. The global consumption shall reach 13 million tons with the service entry of the entire ordered methanol-based fleet. The Russian transport strategy also mentions methanol among alternative fuel types for the development of freight and passenger transportation, both by sea and river transport.
The current infrastructure of maritime ports that carry out methanol transshipment already allows the start of the methanol fuelling process. The current fuelling companies of the Far East will also manage without significant investments
- Currently, it is important to make the economic component of methanol fuelling in Russian ports understandable to the market. According to available data from the Chinese domestic market, it is possible to attain cost savings on ship fuel up to 40% in comparison to diesel, - Evgeny Gavrilov noted during his speech. – We need to obtain a similar assessment for the Russian market of sea and river vessels. This requires the joint work of shipowners, fuelling vessels and methanol suppliers – and we are already carrying out such work. As for the availability of methanol engines for domestic shipbuilders - they are already being tested in China, where single and dual-fuel methanol engines reach capacities of up to 1700 kW.
The report separately noted the importance of making state-level changes to technical regulations and legal acts that allow the use of methanol for inland water transport.