The Coalition for the Energy of the Future launches the feasibility study of its first major project and welcomes three new members

By teadmin On Jul 22, 2021

Launched in late 2019, the Coalition for the Energy of the Future aims at accelerating the development of future energies and technologies to sustain new green mobility models and reduce the impact of transport and logistics on climate change.

Launch of the feasibility study of the first French project of BioLNG production within a large maritime port
On the occasion of its second CEO meeting of 2021, the Coalition for the Energy of the Future announces the launch of the feasibility study of the first French project of BioLNG production within a large maritime port. Developed by three of its members, this project will enable to advance the production and use of BioLNG for maritime transportation.

Made possible by the Coalition’s work, this project will allow the transformation of household waste from the Métropole Aix-Marseille-Provence into liquefied biomethane (BioLNG) within the Port of Marseille Fos. This BioLNG will then be used to advance green mobility from the port, notably for the CMA CGM Group’s LNG-powered vessels.

This major project represents a virtuous example of circular economy and will benefit from existing infrastructures at the Port of Marseille Fos: EveRé’s (a household waste treatment center) methanation units, Elengy’s (a subsidiary of ENGIE) LNG terminals for stocking and delivery, TotalEnergies’ bunkering ship and CMA CGM’s LNG vessels.

BioLNG combined with CMA CGM vessels’ dual fuel engines will allow the reduction of at least 67% greenhouse gas emissions on a well-to-wake basis (entire value chain) and by 88% on a tank-to-wake basis (at ship level).

Air Liquide, Kuehne+Nagel Group and Rolls-Royce join the Coalition for the Energy of the Future
Already 14-member strong, the Coalition welcomes today the entry of three global companies recognized worldwide for their involvement into the emergence of technological innovations:

Air Liquide, a world leader in gases, technologies and services for Industry and Health,
Kuehne+Nagel Group, one of the world’s leading logistics companies,
Rolls-Royce, a leading engineering company focused on world-class power and propulsion systems.

They join Airbus, AWS, Bureau Veritas, Carrefour, Cluster Maritime Français, CMA CGM Group, Crédit Agricole CIB, ENGIE, Faurecia, Michelin, PSA International, Schneider Electric, TotalEnergies and Wärtsilä in the Coalition.

Together, they will bring the Coalition additional resources and talents to take up the challenge of tomorrow’s sustainable transport and logistics.

Benoît Potier, President and CEO of Air Liquide group, said: “In line with Air Liquide’s commitment in favour of the energy transition, we are pleased to join the Energy of the Future coalition and the 17 major international companies that make it up. We are convinced of the benefits of a collective dynamic. In order to accelerate the energy transition of transport and the entire supply chain, we have to work together to provide concrete solutions and develop synergies. It is indeed by acting today and collectively, to prepare for the future and develop new models of sustainable mobility, that we can have a positive impact on tomorrow’s society.”

Otto Schacht, Member of the Management Board of Kuehne + Nagel International AG, responsible for Sea Logistics, said: “As a pioneer in sustainable logistics, we are pleased to join the Coalition for the Energies of the Future in Transport and Supply Chain. We are convinced that a collaborative, cross-industry approach will help to achieve the UN climate goals. Together, we strive to offer innovations for CO2-neutral transport solutions, such as the new BioLNG project. As the world’s leading logistics service provider connecting suppliers and customers, Kuehne+Nagel offers concrete sustainable actions for customers through our Net Zero Carbon programme.”

Adam Morton – Head of Environmental Technology, Rolls-Royce plc. said, “We are pleased to join the coalition at a time when there is so much focus across industries to accelerate decarbonisation and drive the development of technologies that will support sustainable growth in the transport and logistics sectors. The coalition’s aims and objectives complement Rolls-Royce’s ambitions and targets recently published in our Net Zero pathway. We believe that collaboration is essential if we are to achieve the transition to net zero carbon and it is through the power of working together that we will succeed.”

With these additional members, the Coalition continues to rally major global industry leaders from different sectors and pursues its ambition to accelerate the development of energies and technologies sustaining new, lower-carbon models to reach carbon-neutral objectives in transport and logistics.

Progresses and development of new projects
Since the beginning of 2021, the Coalition’s working groups have made progress on several of the projects being developed:

Tests and certification, as part of Carrefour’s projects Cathyope and H2Haul, of the first hydrogen 44 tons heavy truck in the South of France and collection of non-binding intentions to convert, as a first phase, at least 100 Diesel trucks to green hydrogen trucks in Europe, to decarbonise heavy-duty transportation in the European Union across its entire value chain: green hydrogen production, hydrogen refuelling infrastructure and end-users.
Engineering studies to be launched on dedicated biofuel for shipping based on pyrolysis, with first quantities to be produced by 2022 and industrialized as from 2023.
Development of an ecocalculator demonstrator certifying door-to-door CO2 impact on any given transportation routing as well as proposing low-emission alternatives with different levels of data details to allow shippers to precisely measure their carbon footprint.
Publication in April 2021 of a common manifest on renewable gases to accelerate the energy transition. It is aimed at unveiling the potential of renewable gases in the energy transition and of the development of biomethane production across Europe.
Technical studies on the energy balance and electrification rate across transportation route including terminals in Marseille and Singapore, to be followed by cost-benefit analysis on identified potential conversion areas. The studies have unveiled that by connecting vessel at quay we could save 5% of the total energy consumption on an Asia to Europe route, representing a potential saving of 50 tons of CO2 per vessel call in average.

In addition, the Coalition is launching new projects to accelerate the development of new energies:

the production and testing of e-methane for the shipping industry,
the warehouse of the future and supply chain of tomorrow, and the new green model between warehouses and distribution centers,
new biofuels for aviation.
A study to create the digital twin of a “green multimodal hub” to synchronize and pilot the production and the distribution of green energies.

An international coalition with a clear pathway towards carbon neutrality
Launched in late 2019 during the French Maritime Economy Conference (Assises de l’Economie de la Mer), and supported by French President Emmanuel Macron, the Coalition for the Energy of the Future aims at accelerating the development of future energies and technologies to sustain new green mobility models to reduce the climate impact of transport and logistics.

To achieve genuine technological breakthroughs with tangible results by 2030, the Coalition’s three main goals are:

To unlock a more extensive portfolio of clean energy sources;
To decrease the energy consumption per kilometer-equivalent of goods mobility;
To reduce the proportion of emissions linked to transport and logistics.