On the identification of regulatory gaps for hydrogen as maritime fuel

• Need of a regulatory framework for the use of hydrogen in waterborne transport. • Gap assessment analysis of the IGF code for the hydrogen as a fuel on ships. • Provided a first level set of recommendations for IGF code update. • Towards the creation of a roadmap to boost the hydrogen economy in maritime sector. The decarbonization of the maritime sector represents a priority in the energy policy agendas of the majority of Countries worldwide, and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has recently revised its strategy aiming for an ambitious zero-emissions scenario by 2050. In these regards, there is a broad consensus on hydrogen as one of the most promising clean energy vectors for maritime transport, and a key towards that goal. However, to date, an international regulatory framework for the use of hydrogen on-board of ships is absent, this posing a severe limitation to the adoption of hydrogen technologies in this sector. To cope with this issue, this paper presents a preliminary gap assessment analysis for the International Code of Safety for Ship Using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code) with relation to hydrogen as a fuel. The analysis is structured according to the IGF Code chapters, and a bottom-up approach is followed to review the code content and assess its relevance to hydrogen. The risks related to hydrogen are accounted for in assessing the gaps and providing a first level set of recommendations for IGF Code updates. By this means, this work settles the basis for further research over the identified gaps, towards the identification of a final set of recommendations for the IGF Code update.

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Publication Details

Journal
Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments
Published
2025-02-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2025.104224
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Maritime Transport Emissions and Efficiency
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
3.20

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On the identification of regulatory gaps for hydrogen as maritime fuel

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4 citations
Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments
Maritime Transport Emissions and Efficiency
3.20
article

On the identification of regulatory gaps for hydrogen as maritime fuel

Aki Hämäläinen, Brian Sullivan, F. Oikonomou, Nikos Sakellaridis, Margarida Tomé, Thomas Wannemacher, Lefteris Koukoulopoulos, Nils Baumann, Markus Rautanen, Giovanni Di Ilio, K. Mahos, George Dimopoulos, Mariagiovanna Minutillo, F. Chillè, Francesco Salvadore, Viviana Cigolotti, Mónica Rossi, Erik-Jan Boonen, Arianna Bionda, Raffaele Ponzini, Penny Douska, George Psaraftis, Yiannis Papagiannopoulos, Monica Alvarez-Cardozo, Oscar Noguero Torres, C. Di Maria, Chara Georgopoulou
article en
4 citations

Abstract

• Need of a regulatory framework for the use of hydrogen in waterborne transport. • Gap assessment analysis of the IGF code for the hydrogen as a fuel on ships. • Provided a first level set of recommendations for IGF code update. • Towards the creation of a roadmap to boost the hydrogen economy in maritime sector. The decarbonization of the maritime sector represents a priority in the energy policy agendas of the majority of Countries worldwide, and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has recently revised its strategy aiming for an ambitious zero-emissions scenario by 2050. In these regards, there is a broad consensus on hydrogen as one of the most promising clean energy vectors for maritime transport, and a key towards that goal. However, to date, an international regulatory framework for the use of hydrogen on-board of ships is absent, this posing a severe limitation to the adoption of hydrogen technologies in this sector. To cope with this issue, this paper presents a preliminary gap assessment analysis for the International Code of Safety for Ship Using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code) with relation to hydrogen as a fuel. The analysis is structured according to the IGF Code chapters, and a bottom-up approach is followed to review the code content and assess its relevance to hydrogen. The risks related to hydrogen are accounted for in assessing the gaps and providing a first level set of recommendations for IGF Code updates. By this means, this work settles the basis for further research over the identified gaps, towards the identification of a final set of recommendations for the IGF Code update.

Sustainable Energy Technologies and AssessmentsVol. 75
National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (IT), University of Salerno (IT), Cervantes Institute (ES), National Technical University of Athens (GR), Parthenope University of Naples (IT), Italian Institute of Technology (IT), Técnicas y Servicios de Ingeniería (Spain) (ES), Cineca (IT), I.R.C.C.S. Oasi Maria SS (IT), Proton Motor (Germany) (DE), SingularLogic (Greece) (GR), VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (FI), Politecnico di Milano (IT)
European Commission
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Maritime Transport Emissions and Efficiency
3.20
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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