The US has growing supplies of renewable natural gas (RNG) suitable for liquefaction into bio-LNG, but European regulations have yet to recognize the possible marine fuel, according to panelists at an Argus event last week.
The EU's FuelEU Maritime regulation does not yet extend to grid-based mass balancing outside Europe, said John Grubic, director of strategic accounts, marine Americas at Shell, at the Argus Sustainable Marine Fuels conference in Houston, Texas, on Friday.
"Even if your US RNG is ISCC-certified, it doesn't matter because it is not recognized by the Union Database," he said.
By contrast, ISCC-certified used cooking oil methyl ester biodiesel bunkered in US ports can be credited against FuelEU obligations, highlighting what Grubic described as a regulatory gap. Current proof-of-sustainability processes in Europe are extensive and could benefit from streamlining as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) develops its own frameworks.
Shell liquefies RNG in Savannah, Georgia, for bunkering container vessels, and also supplies cruise ships in Florida.
US RNG production has seen steady growth, from around 50 facilities in 2014 to about 500 today, said Mihaly Wekler, vice president of business development at US environmental commodity marketer Anew Climate. The RNG flowing through US pipelines is sourced from farms, wastewater treatment plants, and landfills.
Because the US grid is highly interconnected, RNG can be injected at one location and its environmental attributes tracked and claimed elsewhere through registries such as CleanCounts. "As long as you maintain an audited chain of custody, you can effectively green up any natural gas that is dispensed in the US," Wekler said.
Both speakers agreed that work is underway to improve international alignment. The IMO is developing a set of carbon intensity scores for production LNG pathways, while the EU continues to address how its Union Database will be harmonized across member countries. Wekler noted that differing national approaches to carbon intensity scoring remain a challenge, with the EU and US using different methodologies.
For now, bio-LNG bunkered in North America remains outside the scope of Europe's FuelEU Maritime regulation, a situation that may evolve as databases and standards are further developed.
