CMA CGM to offer biomethane fuelled container shipping service

The French container line is supporting the production of 12,000 tonnes of biomethane – a non-fossil fuel, renewable green gas – annually. The annual production will be enough to fuel two LNG-powered containerships trading between Rotterdam and St Petersburg for an entire year.

Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and CEO of the CMA CGM Group, said: “We have crossed a new step with the launch of the first low-carbon shipping offer based on biomethane.

“We know that there is still a long way to go to meet the commitments of the Paris Agreement. Achieving these goals do not rely on a single solution but on a set of initiatives and new technologies complimentary to each other.”

The company said biomethane offers well to wake greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions of around 67%, and 88% on a tank to wake (ship level) basis. Biomenthane will be made available as option to CMA CGM customers in May this year.

“CMA CGM intends to push ahead with the development of this energy source by investing in biomethane production facilities and studying the viability of liquefaction processes so that biomethane can be rolled out as a shipping fuel,” the company said.