NEWS & INSIGHTS | Opinion
Industrial Grade E-Methanol and the UK’s Maritime Decarbonisation Plan
Luca Corradi
Luca works to bring “the outside in”, connecting innovators and academics across sectors and disciplines, to explore the latest technologies that could be adopted to address oil and gas industry challenges. Leading The Net Zero Technology Centre’s horizon scanning activity, he identifies emerging technology trends, cutting through the hype to identify potential areas of impact and application. With a background in business and organisational change leadership, Luca has developed a strong network and is passionate about harnessing this to deliver the next generation of the net zero energy industry.
Outside work Luca loves reading, music and travel. He is married with two young daughters and a dog. He enjoys the rare motorbike ride in Scotland and even rarer ski trip on the Alps.
More to net zero news: Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy; State of Energy Innovation; E-methanol
Chief Technology Officer at NZTC, Luca Corradi, and his team closely monitor the global net zero landscape. They follow the trends, policies, investments, and technological innovations that, together, bring the world closer to its shared climate goals. Learn more about our horizon scanning service. This week, Luca and his team look at the UK’s Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy and the five key policies developed by the Department for Transport, the progress and challenges in energy technology innovation, and explore the first industry-grade e-methanol.
The Department for Transport has published its Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy, which outlines the government’s vision for how the UK maritime sector can decarbonise.
The Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy sets a target for zero fuel lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. It sets intermediate targets of at least a 30% reduction by 2030 and an 80% reduction by 2040, compared to 2008 levels. Furthermore, it is likely that hydrogen and hydrogen-derived fuel, along with battery electrification will have a role in decarbonising the sector. To achieve these goals, Department for Transport’s (DfT) has developed five key policy measures:
- Regulate maritime fuels. International regulation will increase the use of low carbon GHG emissions fuels from 2027, with domestic regulation following.
- Place a price on emissions through expansion of the UK ETS to include maritime from 2026. DfT will push for a global levy on GHG emissions which would be introduced in 2027.
- Consider a requirement for zero or near-zero GHG emissions whilst at berth. Almost half of the GHG emissions from UK domestic maritime come from vessels at berth. DfT wants to encourage the uptake of the technology needed to reduce these emissions.
- Introduce measures to support smaller vessels to decarbonise and accelerate uptake of low-carbon fuels and technologies in targeted subsectors. Fuel regulation and emission pricing don’t cover small vessels, even those with a clear or advanced technological pathway to decarbonise.
- Increase energy efficiency. DfT will support the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in short-term measures to incentivise energy efficiency that will be implemented from Jan 2026, and explore domestic measures.
Figure: Estimated WtW GHG emissions from UK domestic maritime in 2019, split by operating profile of vessels (excluding inland waterways)
Source: Department for Transport
The IEA’s report on the State of Energy Innovation assesses progress and challenges in energy technology innovation.
Today’s energy landscape is highly dynamic with innovations spanning a wide range of countries and technology areas. Moreover, energy innovation is increasingly at the core of countries’ competitiveness, security, and resilience strategies. Public and corporate energy research and development (R&D) spending is increasing at around 6% per year in real terms.
According to the IEA estimates, around 35% of the emission reductions needed to reach net zero still rely on technologies not yet demonstrated at commercial scale. Specifically, demonstration projects focus on supply-side over demand-side technology. The IEA tracks funding for demonstration projects, with around half of the total focused on hydrogen-based fuels, and another quarter dedicated to power generation technologies like nuclear and floating wind. However, most are yet to reach final investment decision (FID).
Additionally, there is an increasing focus on low-emissions, modular and mass-manufactured technologies. Around 90% of China’s energy venture capital (VC) going towards these technologies. In 2024, VC for energy start-ups declined by 23% compared to 2023. While inflation caused a general drop in VC funding, except for AI.
Political uncertainty further compounded the decline in energy related VC funding. VC did not decrease for all areas, with start-ups working on technologies including nuclear, synthetic fuels and CCUS experiencing growth. Interestingly, hydrogen experienced one of the highest declines in early-stage VC. Although it stayed at a similar level at growth-stage.
The report includes focus areas on AI for energy technology innovation, CO₂ removals and battery minerals.
Graph source: IEA
The ‘world’s largest’ commercial e-methanol facility has produced industrial-grade e-methanol for the first time and has been certified by the EU ISCC scheme
European Energy has produced its first industry-grade e-methanol at its Power-to-X facility in Kassø, Denmark. Specifically, it uses power from the adjacent 300MW Kassø solar park, and biogenic CO₂ to produce carbon-neutral e-methanol. The biogenic CO₂ is a by-product of biogas production derived from agricultural residues.
The EU’s International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) scheme has certified the facility. This certification, a first for methanol production, allows e-methanol to be counted towards renewable energy targets and used in sectors like shipping, aviation, and industry, which are covered by EU climate regulations. Currently, European Energy and co-owner Mitsui & Co. are preparing for the official inauguration of the Kassø e-methanol facility in May 2025. This will mark the launch of commercial operations. Once fully operational, the facility will have an annual capacity of 42,000t.
Image Source: European Energy
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