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technology

progressive stricter regulations in order to control
emissions of sulphur oxides and nitrous oxides.
North America and much of northern Europe are
currently Emission Control Areas. Burning natural
gas produces negligible amounts of sulphur oxi-
des, particulates and nitrous oxides, so LNG is a
perfect fuel candidate to be used for marine tran-
sport.

LNG distribution for small off-grid gas users and in
road fuelling stations is also in rapid growth.

The availability of Small Scale LNG solutions is
crucial to support the evolution of LNG as a fuel,
and a dilemma remains between the level of
LNG demand and the availability of small quanti-
ties of LNG, competitive with other types of fuels.
When not in the vicinity of LNG terminals, existing Hot and cold composite curves 1
ports might be constrained in the availability of LNG
and building facilities allowing to accommodate
and offl oad LNG carriers may not be feasible for shipping industry, transportation companies using
various reasons (shallow water ports, unavailability heavy trucks and island users (small industries, re-
of small size carriers, safety and regulations). mote villages) not connected to the gas grid, also
known as off-grid users.
Saipem has recently developed a solution allowing
to liquefy small quantities of pipeline natural gas in
order to produce suffi cient quantities of LNG to fuel LNG as Fuel for Marine and Road
ships and trucks in a port. The Small-Scale LNG Transportation
pre-engineered solution presented has been desi-
gned for a 250,000 TPA LNG production capacity, The IMO global cap on sulphur content in marine
which is deemed suffi cient to fuel several cruise or fuel set to 3.5% max in 2012 will be reduced to
transport ships a week, together with the capabili- 0.5% in 2020. The main options that match the
ty to distribute LNG locally thanks to truck loading IMO SO cap are installation of scrubbers on exi-
x
points. sting ships burning Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO), use of
Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (LSFO) or use of natural gas.
Context LNG is typically used by large logistic opera-

The use of LNG as a fuel is expected to grow in the tors, heavy-duty trucks of transportation com-
future due to environmental policies aiming to pro- panies, retail and consumer companies. LNG
mote a more sustainable development, as natural produces less GHG emissions than traditional
gas is the cleanest and the least CO intensive fos- diesel fuels, as reported in next table, providing
2
sil fuel. It is also the only fossil fuel that will maintain an additional incentive of corporate adoption.
its share in the energy mix throughout the coming
decade. Natural gas currently accounts for roughly Many ship owners currently see scrubbers as a
25% of the global energy demand, 9.8% of which short-term solution while LNG is seen by many as
is LNG. Some of the main drivers for the growth a long-term solution, considering that new regula-
of LNG are energy independence, lower energy tions are likely to come in place in the future fur-
costs, emission reduction in shipping, industry and ther restricting emissions from the shipping sector.
power generation, and the increasing share of in- The ships equipped with scrubbers are 334 units
termittent renewables in the energy mix. April 2018 while LNG powered ships are 121 (not
counting LNG carriers).
The use of LNG as a fuel is
expected to grow in the future, The willingness of transportation companies to
switch to LNG is mostly linked to the accessibility
“due to environmental and availability of fuelling infrastructure, to the truck
policies aiming to promote a performance and to the price difference between
LNG and diesel. Obstacles are the high incremental
more sustainable development costs for cryogenic fuel tanks and gas fuelled engi-
nes. Price difference between LNG and diesel vary
The demand for LNG in transport is set to rise glo- according to country and to the tax regime applied.
bally driven by marine segments choosing LNG, in- Nonetheless, trends in the LNG adoption are cur-
creasing bunkering network and LNG road stations rently moving towards a reduction of the ownership
developing in China and Europe. The LNG can be cost and a fast payback of the initial investment.
used as a fuel by the following main consumers:

28 28 Impiantistica Italiana - Gennaio-Febbraio 2020