Abstract
Abstract With the prosperity of global shipping industry, a variety of shipping-induced environmental problems and increasingly rigid emission restrictions have drawn more attention to an emerging marine fuel—liquefied natural gas (LNG), a clean and efficient energy that conforms to the essence of green shipping. Although with superiority using onboard, there are only fewer than 40 fully LNG-fueled ships in service worldwide by June 2013, and the quantity of LNG-fueled ships in operation is even much lower in China. Moreover, the majority of those in China are inland ships, which mainly navigate along the Yangtze River and canals. By using the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis in combination with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), this paper analyzes the development prospect of LNG-fueled ships in inland waterway transportation in China, aiming to fill the gaps of inadequate understanding of the new marine energy. This paper offers some insight on the prospects of the application of LNG in the Chinese shipping industry and simultaneously provides useful information to stakeholders and policy makers for decision-making on the development of LNG-fueled ships.
Highlights
According to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), about 90 % of world trade volume is carried by ships (ICS 2013a)
By using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP)-SWOT method, this paper investigates the potential of liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled ships in China with respect to its strengths and weakness, as well as opportunities and threats
A growth-oriented trend of the use of LNG in Chinese shipping industry is shown, which reveals that the application of LNG onboard ships, as a green energy in marine industry, has a bright prospect in China
Summary
According to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), about 90 % of world trade volume is carried by ships (ICS 2013a). Apart from the decline in international trade due to the economic downturn which took place in 2008, world seaborne trade has shown a trend of steady growth in the past decade (Fig. 1). According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), in 2007, international shipping was responsible for approximately 870 million tons of CO2 emission (around 2.7 % of the global emission) (IMO 2009) and the amount is expected to grow as a result of the shipping industry development if no further emission control measures are going to take place. The mitigation of environmental impact and reduction of energy consumption are urgently required, while gaining the benefits from shipping industry. Green shipping has emerged showing higher priority to energy efficiency improvement of ships via advanced vessel design and management, rather than increasing the scale of ship fleets
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