Study reveals future demand for green fuels along Singapore-LA-Long Beach corridor

One year after the signing of the memorandum of understanding to establish a Green and Digital Shipping Corridor, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Port of Los Angeles, and Port of Long Beach have completed a comprehensive baselining study.

The study, commissioned by C40 Cities and the ports, and conducted by the American Bureau of Shipping, analyzed maritime trade flows between Singapore, Los Angeles, and Long Beach, and provided a baseline of activities and energy demand requirements for vessels operating on the corridor through to 2050.

It estimated the quantity of near-zero and zero-emission fuels required for this traffic by modeling the adoption of zero and near-zero carbon alternative fuels, considering factors such as fuel production costs, availability, and IMO’s decarbonization targets.

Key findings of the study include:

• Vessels operating on the corridor represent 7% of the world’s container trade, which is about 1% of Singapore’s, 14.5% of Port of Long Beach’s, and 20% of Port of Los Angeles’ traffic.
• The projected annual energy demand of vessels on the corridor is estimated to be approximately 60,000 terajoules, equivalent to approximately two months of Singapore’s national electricity generation.
• Shipping demand on the corridor is estimated to be around 850,000 tons of methanol and 160,000 tons of ammonia annually by 2030, displacing the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions from almost 320,000 cars annually.
• The transition to zero- and near-zero emission fuels could potentially create approximately 700 jobs in the production and supply chain of such fuels by 2030.

“This study provides a sense of scale and scope to inform our implementation of the Green and Digital Shipping Corridor,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. “Achieving the reductions of greenhouse gas emissions required will take coordination and commitment from public and private stakeholders across the maritime and goods movement industries.”

“The Port of Long Beach and its partners have been very successful reducing emissions from cargo-handling equipment, trucks and other mobile sources moving cargo in our harbor,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero.

“One of the most important parts of this partnership is it allows us to better understand and target a source of emissions that is hard for us to control as a local seaport authority – shipborne emissions. This work, vital to our net zero-emission quest, will result in economic and health benefits all along the trans-Pacific trade corridor.”

The partnership convened the first in-person stakeholder meeting of the corridor together with industry value-chain representatives, as a prelude to onboarding stakeholders to the corridor. The meeting was held during Singapore Maritime Week 2024 on April 18.

The meeting and subsequent working groups will focus on developing green and digital solutions to address the following focus areas within the corridor:

• Enable the supply and adoption of zero and near-zero emissions fuels (e.g. green ammonia, green methanol) at scale, including safety, emergency response, mitigation and standards-setting.
• Develop and scale-up the adoption of energy efficiency solutions, including through digital tools (e.g. route optimization, remote monitoring) and technologies that reduce fuel consumption (e.g. wind-assisted propulsion).
• Develop and encourage the adoption of digital technologies to support the monitoring, reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions along the corridor.