Riviera – News Content Hub – Polluter pays principle applies to CCS

Speaking towards the end of day one of the conference, the shipping programme director of the Brussels-based Transport & Environment Dr Faig Abbasov confirmed the EU’s stance of ’polluter pays’ will apply to onboard carbon capture and storage (CCS).

CCS is playing an important role in shipping’s plan to meet its commitments to reducing carbon emissions, but as Dr Abbasov pointed out, under the current EU versions of EU legislation on the EU Emission Trading Scheme and Fuel EU, the ship will still be liable for the carbon produced on board.

What happens to the captured carbon after it leaves the ship plays an important part in determining who pays, but in many scenarios and as the legislation stands, the ship will still have to pay for the carbon produced – even if it is captured.

That might change in later drafts of the legislation, but for many delegates, this was the first time they had heard of this important detail in the EU regulations.

On the positive side, Dr Abbasov said shipping should pay attention to the developments in the aviation industry, where blending kerosine with e-kerosine is under development. Using a process of refining synthetic crude oil (e-crude) into e-kerosine produces similar products to that produced from crude oil.

One of the by-products is e-diesel, which Dr Abbasov urged owner and operators to investigate as the pilot fuel for alternative fuels, such as methanol or e-methanol.