Green ship low carbon response strategy

First, China's green ship development status and existing problems

In response to the new requirements of international conventions and IMO for ship energy conservation and environmental protection, China has made some achievements in the field of green ship development: to standard international industry standards and norms, and introduced relevant policies to guide the green development of ship construction and shipping industry; Domestic research institutes and enterprises have followed the international trend and made breakthroughs in the research and development of alternative fuels for ships and the construction of green ships. However, there are still some problems in the overall planning, concept guidance and technological innovation of green ships.

1. Development status

Driven by the background of energy conservation and emission reduction in the international shipping industry, China has introduced relevant policies to guide the shipping and shipping industry to actively carry out technology research and development and construction in the field of green ships. In 2013, the Ministry of Transport issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Application of Liquefied Natural Gas in the Water Transport Industry to promote the use of liquefied natural gas as fuel for ships and promote energy conservation and emission reduction in the shipping industry [11]. In 2017, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Transport jointly issued the "13th Five-Year Plan for Scientific and Technological Innovation in the Field of Transportation", which listed advanced ship propulsion technology and green ship design and optimization technology as key scientific and technological development directions [12]. In August 2020, the Ministry of Transport issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Construction of New Infrastructure in the Field of Transportation to encourage ships to use liquefied natural gas and other clean energy [13].

Domestic enterprises and research institutions have also begun to take greening as an important indicator in the process of ship development and construction, and have made certain achievements in the construction of green ship types, the greening of supporting equipment, special emission reduction technologies, and the recycling of ship materials [14], and some research on new energy and new fuel technologies are at the world's advanced level. LNG and other alternative energy sources have been widely used in non-gas ships, such as the 3.2×105t dual fuel super large oil tanker developed by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company with the dual fuel main engine of Winterthul Engine Co., LTD. (WinGD), the international ship energy efficiency design index is 37.5% lower than the base line, meeting the requirements of the third stage. It was approved by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) in 2018 [15]. Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Group Co., Ltd. built the world's first 3.08×105t ultra-large crude oil vessel "Kaili" for China Merchants Group Co., LTD., which is equipped with sail equipment, filling the technical gap in the application of domestic sail equipment on real ships [16]. Cosco Shipping Group has successfully installed solar panels on the car carrier "COSCO Takeoff", making it the world's leading solar vessel using PV/grid-connected technology [17]. In addition, LNG-powered super large container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers, and passenger and roller vessels have entered the construction stage of real ships, and some ship types have been delivered; The battery-powered three-fuel vehicle carrier has also entered the construction stage of the real ship. Other alternative energy sources such as ethane, liquefied petroleum gas, methanol and ammonia-powered ship models are also under development. China's development in the field of green ships basically meets the relevant green environmental protection requirements of IMO at the present stage, but there is still a certain gap between the prospective technical research for higher green environmental protection requirements in the future and that of EU member states, Japan and South Korea [18]. If we miss the critical period of green ship technology research and development from 2020 to 2030, after EU member states, Japan and other countries have established a mature technical system, China will fall into a disadvantageous situation in the field of green ships.

(2) There are problems

1. There is a lack of overall planning on green ship development at the national level

In terms of green ship technology research and development, China lacks planning and overall arrangement for a rainy day, and does not play the role of integrated development of "production, study, research and use". There is a lack of incentive sharing mechanism among scientific research units and enterprises, which leads to the phenomenon of low repetitive investment and construction of ship enterprises and related scientific research institutions. It seriously restricts the efficient and intensive development of China's green ship technology, and even hinders the time process of China's transformation from a shipbuilding power to a shipbuilding power. In order to comply with the development situation of energy conservation and emission reduction in the international shipping industry, seize the leading international technology advantage of green ships, and grasp the right to speak in the formulation of new international standards and norms, China urgently needs to mark the IMO's carbon emission reduction vision, formulate national and industry-level plans for the development of domestic green (zero emission) ships, and carry out green assessment of the whole industrial chain of various alternative energy sources. Establish the progress of green ship technology research and development and emission reduction targets.