This is not news to anybody: the sectors of maritime shipping and international aviation are significant emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG). In the coming decades, the forecast is that they will increase even more. At a time when the international community is uniting for a low-carbon economy, the associations from each sector – the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) – have established goals for the reduction of emissions.
iCS, which is part of the Brazilian delegation of the Committee for the Marine Environment of the IMO, has commissioned a study to assess the synergies of the production of low carbon fuels for the sectors of aviation and maritime transport. It is being prepared by Cenergia Lab, which is a research group from the Energy Planning Program at COPPE/UFRJ. The study presented its initial outcomes in the webinar “Synergies between the decarbonization goals of the maritime and aviation sectors” by professor Alexandre Szklo, who is one of the leaders of the study.
“Co-production is the idea that several plants, currently being implemented, or being studied or in the implementation stage, are focused on the production of aviation kerosene from, above all, biomass, and also co-producing fractions that are suitable in the composition of international marine fuel. On the supply side, we see the opportunity for synergy in this strategy. We also see synergies in the goals,” explains Szklo. In other words, the decarbonization of the aviation sector can also be beneficial to the maritime sector.
