The Nippon Foundation Zero Emission Ships ProjectDeveloping ships for the future with zero greenhouse gas emissions

More than 120 countries and regions, and many industries, have declared a goal of “carbon neutrality by 2050.” The shipping sector is represented by the image of a vessel traversing the sea using clean energy. The combination of blue gradation representing the ocean and green representing clean energy aims for a society in which clean energy and the ocean can coexist forever.

The Paris Agreement was adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris in 2015, and global moves toward decarbonization have been accelerating since then. In Japan, in his October 26, 2020, policy speech to the Diet (Japan’s parliament), then Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga outlined a “virtuous cycle of the economy and the environment” as a pillar of his growth strategy, and declared that by 2050, Japan will aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero, to realize a carbon-neutral, decarbonized society. This declaration means that policy measures also need to be pursued for the maritime sector to reduce CO2 emissions in coastal shipping to zero by 2050.

Shipping is one of the 14 fields included in the government’s Green Growth Strategy Through Achieving Carbon Neutrality in 2050, and conversion to next-generation, carbon-free alternative fuels (the introduction of next-generation-fueled ships) is included in the shipping industry’s implementation plan.

Various options exist for next-generation fueled vessels, and their utilization is expected to expand in stages, starting with the use of existing technologies and infrastructure. Specifically, their use is seen expanding through increased utilization of LNG fuel and batteries that are already being put to practical use. They will then be replaced by biomethane and carbon-recycled methane,* which can utilize existing LNG fuel technologies and infrastructure as is. Over the medium term, the use of ammonia and hydrogen, which do not emit CO2 when used as fuel, is anticipated, but the use of hydrogen, the ultimate clean fuel that emits only water when used, is seen growing in the future. The Nippon Foundation is focusing on the development of zero-emission vessels fueled by hydrogen and is supporting this technological development.