Well-to-wake energy and greenhouse gas analysis of SO X abatement options for the marine industry

Abstract: This paper investigates the well-to-wake energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of several key SO X abatement options in marine transportation, ranging from the manufacture of low sulfur fuels to equipping the vessel with suitable scrubber solutions. The findings suggest that a scrubber system, used with current heavy fuel oils, has the potential to reduce SO X emissions with lower well-to-wake energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions than switching to production of low sulfur fuels at the refinery. A sensitivity analysis covering a series of system parameters shows that variations in the well-to-tank greenhouse gas emissions intensity and the energy efficiency of the main engine have the highest impacts in terms of well-to-wake emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]