White Paper 4: Can natural gas reduce emissions from transport?
Emissions in the transport sector are an increasingly important issue in global energy systems. This includes both greenhouse gases (GHGs) and air pollutants (including oxides of nitrogen (NOx) oxides of sulphur (SOx) and particulate matter (PM).
However, the progress on reducing greenhouse emissions from transport has been relatively slow, with emissions from shipping proving to be particularly challenging. Local air pollutants from vehicles, such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides and particulates, are also a growing concern for human health.
Natural gas has been suggested as an alternative transport fuel to help combat these emissions, particularly in shipping and goods transportation due to the range requirements in these vehicle types. However, there is some disagreement as to the potential for natural gas to provide significant improvements over emissions emerging from the current transport system.
White Paper 4 explores the emissions of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants arising in both heavy goods vehicles and shipping, and has accessed the scope for natural gas to reduce these emissions from current levels.
Dissemination
Please cite the paper as: Speirs J., Balcombe P., Blomerus P., Stettler M., Brandon N., and Hawkes A. Can natural gas reduce emissions from transport? Heavy goods vehicles and shipping; Sustainable Gas Institute, Imperial College London. January 2019
Dissemination
Blogs
28/02 – How to cut emissions from international shipping and heavy goods vehicles – what are our options? – Department of Chemical Engineering Blog
Launch event
The evening commenced with a welcome by the Institute’s Director, Professor Nigel Brandon followed by a 30-minute overview of the report from the lead author, Dr. Jamie Speirs.
The panel members include:-
- Adam Morton, Rolls-Royce’s Head of Environmental Technology
- Dr Tristan Smith, Reader in Energy and Transport at University College London
- Brian Robinson, Commercial Vehicle Emissions Consultant, Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership
For more information, see the Imperial College event page.
Presentations/Conferences
19/02 – Can natural gas reduce emissions from trucks and ships? Sussex (Science Policy Research Unit) Seminar
Press
28/01 – Emissions targets for transport sector can’t be met using natural gas alone – Imperial College
28/01 – Emissions targets for transport sector can’t be met using natural gas alone – Phys.org
28/01 – New research questions freight and shipping’s transition into natural gas – Air Quality News
29/01 – Study: LNG May Offer 10 Percent Cut in GHG Emissions – The Maritime Executive
29/01 – Gas is not enough for green transport: report – Natural Gas World
29/01 – Report: Natural Gas Not Enough to Reach Emissions Goals – Port Technology
29/01 – Imperial College London white paper sees LNG as an interim fuel – Splash247.com
30/01 – Emissions targets for transport sector can’t be met using natural gas alone – Hellenic Shipping News
30/01 – Europe: New study finds natural gas can cut ships’ greenhouse gas emissions by at least 10% – BunkerSpot
05/02 – ‘Blistering barnacles’ and shipping’s big gas question – Euroactiv
07/02 – Can natural gas reduce emissions from transport? [GGP] – Natural Gas World
015/02 – Which ship engine should a new ship owner shoot for [LNG condensed] – Natural Gas News
Slides
Download the slides for the launch event.