A group of industry associations representing European shipowners and fuel suppliers is lobbying the European Commission to use the EU's upcoming Clean Industrial Deal to set conditions to upscale the manufacturing of renewable and low-carbon bunker fuels.
The Clean Maritime Fuels Platform — an initiative that aims to identify challenges and solutions to decarbonise European shipping — has made a series of recommendations ahead of the launch of the EU's Clean Industrial Deal later this month.
It calls on the commission to include renewable and low-carbon fuels and "innovative technologies needed by shipping" in the deal. It also wants public financial support from the EU and national Emissions Trading System (ETS) revenues to bolster the bloc's industrial base for clean fuels. And it suggests facilitating the role of ports as energy hubs through fuel infrastructure mandates.
These measures would help to address the significant investment barriers for clean marine fuels, "such as high production costs, technological risks, and a mismatch between producers' long-term pricing expectations and users' need for flexible contracts", the associations said today in a joint statement.
The European Commission is set to present the Clean Industrial Deal on 26 February. It will include a broad set of energy initiatives, according to a draft seen by Argus.
