Developing a Roadmap for Green Coastal Shipping
The Norwegian authorities’ target for 2030 is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% compared to what they were 40 years earlier. By doing so, Norway will set the direction for the shipping industry and continue to be a front-runner.
The entire Norwegian shipping industry as well as the Norwegian authorities have gathered to create the Green Coastal Shipping Programme. The programme participants are now ready to share their views and recommend progress in a roadmap addressed to the Norwegian Government.
“Our vision is to go further into the future to ensure that Norway has established the world’s most efficient and environmentally friendly coastal shipping by 2050. Ships operating in Norway’s extensive coastal areas should be fuelled by electricity, LNG or alternative environmentally friendly fuel. A 40% reduction in 2030 is a step along that road, while an 80% reduction is the target for 2050,” states Magnus Eide, DNV GL’s project manager and lead editor of the roadmap.
Ever since the Vikings ruled the oceans, Norway has been eager to develop efficient shipping. The ambition for the ongoing Norwegian Green Coastal Shipping Programme is also to ensure that the world continues to look to Norway when searching for the most environmentally friendly and efficient shipping solutions.
Is this a dream, a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) or a realistic target?
“A quick, study of very recent history should convince everyone about its realism,” says Narve Mjøs, DNV GL, who is the Green Coastal Shipping Programme director.
There is plenty of evidence, he claims: “In 2001, the very first LNG-fuelled ship, the ferry Glutra, started to operate on the west coast of Norway. The offshore supply vessel Viking Lady had its already efficient and environmentally friendly LNG-fuelled machinery integrated with a marine fuel-cell power package in 2009 and had the first battery hybrid energy system installed on board in 2013. Early in 2015, another major step was taken when the first fully electric ferry, Ampere, was able to regularly transport as many as 120 cars across the almost 6km-wide Sognefjord in Norway.”
"New technologies to support green shipping are already available and innovative developments are reaching the market as we speak, but scaling and further improvements are needed. In a recent study by DNV GL for the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, we stress the need for “out-of-the-box” thinking if the ambitious emissions goal set by the government is to be reached,"says Jon Rysst, senior vice president and head of DNV GL Maritime North Europe.
All new ships which are to operate along the Norwegian coast must use alternative fuel - heavy oil cannot be an option for new ships prepared for short sea shipping. This can only be achieved through public-private cooperation," adds Jon Rysst.
The roadmap to be handed over to the Norwegian Government will set the direction to ensure that Norway continues to be a global shipping power and establishes the world’s most efficient and environmentally friendly coastal shipping by 2050.
