MAMII Open Letter welcoming the Clean Industrial Deal and Europe’s opportunity to lead maritime methane abatement

Methane Abatement in Maritime Innovation Initiative (MAMII): Open letter welcoming the Clean Industrial Deal and Europe Union’s (EU) opportunity to lead the Maritime world with a regulatory framework that accelerates methane emission reduction and encourages investment in and development of European methane abatement technology.

Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) as a fuel is a key part of Maritime’s decarbonisation pathway and has a critical role in Europe’s energy security. LNG is primarily methane, it is therefore essential that methane emissions from both its use as a fuel on ships and the production process of the fuel are minimised.

Solving the methane emission problem for LNG opens a pathway to bio-methane and e-methane, utilising the existing machineries onboard and port infrastructure, further accelerating the Maritime Industry’s decarbonisation journey and securing a low carbon future for Europe.

It also provides a major cleantech opportunity that Europe is poised to exploit for economic and social benefits.

Two key aspects are required:

1. Clear regulations:

· EU to play an active role in setting regulations that encourage the maritime industry to reduce methane emissions, using a balanced approach of incentives and penalties.

· Provide incentives for the maritime industry to invest in modern near-zero methane emission engines and methane mitigation technologies, that are proven to reduce actual methane emissions. Ensuring emissions calculations account for variations in machinery type and efficiency, recognizing that different engine technologies and onboard systems have varying methane emissions.

· Recognise that not all methane is the same, the carbon footprint of the source (well to tank) is critical to the overall GHG calculation (well to wake). Reward suppliers that reduce, measure and report methane emissions, and have regulators recognise these improvements by lowering default values that reflect the industry average.

2. Investment

· Europe has the opportunity to lead the industrial world in methane abatement and measurement technology for Maritime, opening up substantial revenue streams for technology companies, as well as decarbonisation benefits. EU investment support should target the industrialisation and commercialisation of methane abatement and measurement technology.

Methane Abatement in Maritime innovation initiative (MAMII) was launched in September 2022 by Safetytech Accelerator, bringing together industry leaders, technology innovators, and maritime stakeholders to advance technologies for measuring and mitigating methane emissions in the maritime sector and promote the adoption of validated solutions.

It currently has 20+ leading shipping and energy companies as Anchor Partners and a technology ecosystem of over 100 companies, more than half of which are EU based. It runs pilots and helps ship owner and operators engage with technology companies.

This letter represents the views and opinions of MAMII as a whole. However, it may not necessarily reflect the views of all individual members.