Quantitative sustainability assessment of e-fuels for maritime transport
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Reducing the carbon intensity of maritime transport is essential to achieve global emission reduction targets. Electro-fuels (e-fuels) represent a promising cleaner alternative to conventional marine fossil fuels, offering potential lifecycle greenhouse gas reductions when synthesised from renewable electricity and low-carbon feedstocks. While techno-economic and environmental assessments of e-fuels exist, their broader sustainability implications, spanning technological, economic, environmental and safety factors together, remain largely unexplored. This study introduces a quantitative framework to assess the sustainability of ship fuel systems that integrates key performance indicators (KPIs) across these four areas. A case study is conducted to compare the sustainability of carbon-based e-fuels (e-methanol and e-diesel) and carbon-free e-fuels (hydrogen and ammonia) against marine diesel oil (MDO) under multiple decision-making perspectives. The robustness of the overall sustainability-based ranking of fuel alternatives, as derived under each perspective, against uncertainties in the individual KPIs is confirmed via sensitivity analysis. Environmental and safety aspects are found to be critical in comparing the sustainability of alternative fuels. Both e-methanol and e-diesel achieve higher overall sustainability than MDO, irrespective of the decision-making perspective. Ammonia and hydrogen are hindered by safety concerns in the short term, although ammonia also shows long-term potential for sustainable shipping subject to appropriate risk management and the implementation of inherently safer design measures. Overall, the proposed framework enables a comprehensive assessment of alternative fuel systems for cleaner shipping, guiding future sustainability-driven policy and technology development.
Date Issued
2025-12-07
Date Acceptance
2025-10-10
Citation
Sustainable Energy and Fuels, 2025, 9 (23), pp.6506-6521
ISSN
2398-4902
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry
Start Page
6506
End Page
6521
Journal / Book Title
Sustainable Energy and Fuels
Volume
9
Issue
23
Copyright Statement
This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2025 Open Access Article. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.
License URL
Subjects
AMMONIA
CHALLENGES
Chemistry
Chemistry, Physical
EMISSIONS
Energy & Fuels
HYDROGEN-PRODUCTION
Materials Science
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Physical Sciences
Science & Technology
SECTOR
TECHNOLOGIES
Technology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2025-10-10