Page 16 - Port Of Hamburg Magazine 04.2019
P. 16

 ■ INNOVATIVE INDUSTRY
SINCE MARCH 2015, THE ‘STENA GERMANICA’, SAILING IN THE KIEL-GOTHENBURG SERVICE, HAS BEEN THE FIRST ROPAX FERRY WORLDWIDE POWERED BY THE ALTERNATIVE, ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY FUEL METHANOL
‘Green’ Methanol with real potential for shipping
Chemical corporations like Dow in Stade are working on projects enabling them to produce alternative engine fuel on a grand scale in the future. ‘Green’ Methanol could be the alternative fuel going forward for shipping, just as for aviation and trucking.
 16 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | December 2019
Methanol is produced from synthetic gas – an indus- trially manufactured gas mixture – from hydrogen and carbon monoxide, formed by the reaction be- tween water and carbon from natural gas. The meth- anol is ‘green’, if the energy for the synthetic pro- cess originates from renewable sources such as geothermal, hydroelectric, solar or wind energy. On the other hand, the synthetic gas can be manufac- tured by applying ultra-high temperature hydrolysis to waste, sewage sludge and even liquid manure, among other things.
Methanol is said to have great potential as fuel for the shipping industry. The ZIM ‘Green Meth’ net- work, one of the initiatives promoted by the Federal
Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy – BMWi, has set out to create the technical preconditions for the use of methanol as an alternative fuel for smaller vessels in coastal shipping and work craft operating just offshore. This embraces everything from manu- facturing the fuel to its transformation into the ener- gy driving a ship.
RE-FITTING NECESSARY
That methanol can be applied in shipping is con- firmed by Prof. Friedrich Wirz from Hamburg Univer- sity of Technology – TUHH. Up to now you can count the number of vessels powered by methanol in Eu- rope on two hands. This includes the ‘Stena Ger-
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