What’s next for LNG fuel after IMO carbon pricing pause?

That is why the NZF delay has made more operators consider LNG propulsion. Without a global carbon pricing policy and immediate e-fuel incentives, it remains the most affordable, widely available and well-established of all marine alternative fuels. Even fossil LNG can push vessels a long way towards the 30% reduction in emissions sought by 2030, an intermediate checkpoint under IMO’s GHG reduction strategy (which remains in place even after the NZF vote postponement). 

WinGD’s X-DF concept has been in service since 2016, with more than 900 engines sold. Over that time, we have amassed more than eight million running hours of experience and continuously refined fuel consumption and emissions performance via innovations including iCER and VCR technology. 

Advancing GHG benefits 

Take methane slip as an example, in less than a decade we have reduced slippage by 60%, thanks to iCER, VCR and other design adaptations. Combined with low fuel consumption, this means that X-DF outperforms current high-pressure LNG engines in total greenhouse gas emissions in several vessel applications. In even more applications, low opex and initial system costs mean that total vessel lifecycle costs remain lower for X-DF than for high-pressure counterparts, regardless of IMO penalties. 

Time in the market and continuous improvement have enabled us to develop an engine platform that will yield the best performance, whether operating in fossil LNG or biological or synthetic derivatives. Regardless of the status of NZF, those years of refinements will pay dividends for operators choosing methane. 

What happens next is far from clear. If the global framework were to fail, a patchwork of regional regulatory regimes would likely follow. Across several regions, port authorities are working to lower air pollution in their communities. It is therefore possible that, as regions regulate, they expand the scope of their emissions policy to include not only GHG but also air pollutants. 

“We have reduced slippage by 60%”

In such a case, X-DF again has benefits for operators, offering the best air pollution profile of any LNG dual-fuel engine. That includes SOx, NOx and particulate matter. While IMO’s threshold requirements for NOx and SOx hide X-DF’s advantages, under schemes where operators pay for polluting the air, its low emissions profile would translate to real cost savings. 

The Net Zero Framework would not have killed the use of LNG, but its pause certainly enhances the business case. Regardless, WinGD’s near decade of optimising the X-DF platform mean operators will pay less, whether they use fossil LNG or transition to cleaner variants. And it opens up new opportunities for air pollution improvements that could also have a significant financial impact on operators.