A report published this month suggests that the Port of Vancouver could begin supplying green shipping corridors with low-emission fuel.
The Port Of Vancouver E-Methanol Feasibility Study was conducted by Ottawa’s Oceans North and engineering consultancy firm Arup out of the United Kingdom.
The Feasibility Study advances a conceptual development plan for a large-scale e-methanol production plant to fuel bulk carriers and cruise ships calling at the Port of Vancouver.
“Canada has several green shipping corridors in development,” says Brent Dancey, Oceans North’s Director of Marine Climate Action. “We wanted to see what it would look like in practice to develop a made-in-Canada fuel supply to help power these routes.”
Launched in 2008 as a collaboration between Pew Charitable Trusts and Ducks Unlimited Canada in response to melting Arctic ice, Oceans North was founded on a commitment to do conservation differently and today has offices in Winnipeg, Halifax, Calgary, and Vancouver.
Jo Balmer, a Business Leader with Arup, argues that “decarbonizing shipping requires practical, scalable solutions.”
Compared to conventional marine fuels, e-methanol has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90%.
“This concept demonstrates how renewable electricity, green hydrogen, and carbon capture can converge to deliver e-methanol at the scale needed for deep emissions reductions,” Balmer stated. “It’s a blueprint for turning climate ambition into engineered reality.”
The study analyzed fuel consumption for Panamax bulk carriers and cruise ships to model potential offtake.
The project would not be without its hurdles, however. A proposed facility would require significant utility resources, including high demand of electricity and water, and more than 30 hectares of land.
The initiative would also have to contend with complex permitting landscape including environmental assessments that would likely take more than two years to work through.
“The world is moving towards clean shipping,” Dancey said, “and Canada needs to move with it to maximize our economic opportunities and stay connected to global markets.”
Overall, the study suggests that E-methanol will be substantially more expensive than conventional heavy fuel oil, but argues that the environmental benefits outweigh the costs.
“This report helps ground future discussion around how we could proceed,” Dancey said, “as well as some of the barriers that will have to addressed.”