Challenges and opportunities for alternative fuels in the maritime sector
Open accessAbstract
Amidst a period of historic transformation, the marine shipping sector faces uncertainty regarding its ability to reliably fuel while remaining compliant with new international environmental regulations and targets. Increasingly stringent environmental standards, and heightened regulatory focus on maritime decarbonization are driving infrastructural and technical development for alternative fuels and mixtures, engine concepts, and operating practices. However, the transition to alternative fueling is highly complex and requires both a global outlook that spans diverse stakeholder demographics and coordination with multiple actors across the value chain. To aid stakeholders involved in decision making and research related to the transition, a scoping study was conducted with the goal of outlining the barriers, uncertainties, and possibilities in the short and long term for the transition. Synthesis of these results provides strategic decision support, technical direction, and a set of R&D priorities for maritime stakeholders and the scientific community.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Biodiesel typically exhibits a high cetane number (45-65), similar to fossil diesel, ensuring good ignition quality.
“For instance, biodiesel typically exhibits a high cetane number (45-65), similar to fossil diesel, ensuring good ignition quality [215,216].”
From Biofuels, E-Fuels, and Waste-Derived Fuels: Advances, Challenges, and Future Directions (2025) · cites this paper as [216]
The Appendix reports biodiesel’s heating value, and the Additional information table says it meets fuel-quality standards, but neither gives a cetane number or compares its ignition quality with fossil diesel. Searches for “cetane” and “ignition quality” found no passage addressing the claimed 45–65 range or ignition performance. (LLM, conf=0.73)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Mortality from Ship Emissions: A Global Assessment
Corbett, J. J., Winebrake, J. J., Green, E. H., Kasibhatla, P. S., Eyring, V., & Lauer, A. (2007) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es071686z · Cited by 1,086 · see citing works
Bouman, E. A., Lindstad, E., Rialland, A., & Strømman, A. H. (2017) · Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment · doi:10.1016/j.trd.2017.03.022 · Cited by 906 · see citing works
Power generation using fast pyrolysis liquids from biomass
Chiaramonti, D., Oasmaa, A., & Solantausta, Y. (2005) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2005.07.008 · Cited by 620 · see citing works
Cleaner fuels for ships provide public health benefits with climate tradeoffs
Sofiev, M. A., Winebrake, J. J., Johansson, L., Carr, E. W., Prank, M., Soares, J., Vira, J., Kouznetsov, R. D., Jalkanen, J.-P., & Corbett, J. J. (2018) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02774-9 · Cited by 506 · see citing works
Brynolf, S., Fridell, E., & Andersson, K. (2014) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.03.052 · Cited by 450 · see citing works
Biodiesel as alternative fuel for marine diesel engine applications: A review
Noor, C. W. M., Noor, M. M., & Mamat, R. (2018) · Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.rser.2018.05.031 · Cited by 410 · see citing works
Ramirez, J., Brown, R., & Rainey, T. (2015) · Energies · doi:10.3390/en8076765 · Cited by 312 · see citing works
Serra, P., & Fancello, G. (2020) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su12083220 · Cited by 254 · see citing works
Hansson, J., Månsson, S., Brynolf, S., & Grahn, M. (2019) · Biomass and Bioenergy · doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2019.05.008 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
Hoang, A. T. (2018) · Journal of Marine Engineering & Technology · doi:10.1080/20464177.2018.1532734 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
Shi, Y. (2015) · Marine Policy · doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2015.11.013 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Lindstad, E., Eskeland, G. S., Rialland, A., & Valland, A. (2020) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su12218793 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Biofuel as an alternative shipping fuel: technological, environmental and economic assessment
Kesieme, U. K., Pazouki, K., Murphy, A. J., & Chrysanthou, A. (2019) · Sustainable Energy & Fuels · doi:10.1039/c8se00466h · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Natural gas as a ship fuel: Assessment of greenhouse gas and air pollutant reduction potential
Sharafian, A., Blomerus, P., & Mérida, W. (2019) · Energy Policy · doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2019.05.015 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Kass, M. D., Armstrong, B. L., Kaul, B. C., et al. (2020) · Energy & Fuels · doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c00721 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Rogers, J. N., Stokes, B. J., Dunn, J. B., Cai, H., Wu, M. M., Haq, Z., & Baumes, H. S. (2016) · Biofuels Bioproducts and Biorefining · doi:10.1002/bbb.1728 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Tanzer, S. E., Posada, J. A., Geraedts, S., & Ramírez, A. (2019) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.117845 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
The Climate Implications of Using LNG as a Marine Fuel
Pavlenko, N., Comer, B., Zhou, Y., et al. (2020) · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Overview of MARPOL ANNEX VI regulations for prevention of air pollution from marine diesel engines
Čampara, L., Hasanspahić, N., & Vujičić, S. (2018) · SHS Web of Conferences · doi:10.1051/shsconf/20185801004 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Life Cycle Assessment of LNG Fueled Vessel in Domestic Services
Hwang, S., Jeong, B., Jung, K. A., et al. (2019) · Journal of Marine Science and Engineering · doi:10.3390/jmse7100359 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Progress and barriers in understanding and preventing indirect land‐use change
Daioglou, V., Woltjer, G. B., Strengers, B. J., Elbersen, B. S., Ibañez, G. B., González, D. S., Barnó, J. G., & van Vuuren, D. P. (2020) · Biofuels Bioproducts and Biorefining · doi:10.1002/bbb.2124 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Zaimes, G. G., Beck, A. W., Janupala, R. R., Resasco, D. E., Crossley, S. P., Lobban, L. L., & Khanna, V. (2017) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c7ee00682a · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Self-citationA perspective on biofuels use and CCS for GHG mitigation in the marine sector
Mukherjee, A., Bruijnincx, P., & Junginger, M. (2020) · iScience · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2020.101758 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Environmental and economic aspects of using LNG as a fuel for shipping in The Netherlands
Verbeek, R. P., Kadijk, G., van Mensch, P., Wulffers, C. A., van den Beemt, C. B. P. J., & Fraga, F. S. (2011) · TNO Repository · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Review of maritime transportation air emission pollution and policy analysis
Wang, H., Liu, D., & Dai, G. (2009) · Journal of Ocean University of China · doi:10.1007/s11802-009-0283-6 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Natural gas fuel and greenhouse gas emissions in trucks and ships
Speirs, J. F., Balcombe, P., Blomerus, P., et al. (2019) · Progress in Energy · doi:10.1088/2516-1083/ab56af · Cited by 34 · see citing works
A Comparative Analysis of EEDI Versus Lifetime CO2 Emissions
Trivyza, N. L., Rentizelas, A., & Θεοτοκάτος, Γ. (2020) · Journal of Marine Science and Engineering · doi:10.3390/jmse8010061 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
The Introduction of Biofuels in Marine Sector
Tyrovola, T., Dodos, G. S., Kalligeros, S. S., et al. (2017) · Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering - A · doi:10.17265/2162-5298/2017.08.006 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Hoffmann, J.; Asariotis, R.; Assaf, M.; Benamara, H. UNCTAD review of maritime transport. 2018.
- Wang, M.; Elgowainy, A.; Lee, U.; Benavides, P.; Burnham, A.; Cai, H.; Dai, Q.; Hawkins, T.; Kelly, J.; Kwon, H.; Liu, X.; Lu, Z.; Ou, L.; Sun, P.; Winjobi, O.; Xu, H. Greenhouse gases, regulated emissions, and energy use in transportation model ® (2019 Excel); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States), 2019. 10.11578/GREET-EXCEL-2019/DC.20200706. · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Apolinar-Hernández, J. E., Bertoli, S. L., Riella, H. G., Soares, C., & Padoin, N. (2024) · Energy & Fuels · doi:10.1021/acs.energyfuels.3c02287 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Biofuels, E-Fuels, and Waste-Derived Fuels: Advances, Challenges, and Future Directions
Yılbaşı, Z. (2025) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su17136145 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
- Authors
- Foretich, A., Zaimes, G. G., Hawkins, T. R., & Newes, E.
- Affiliations
- National Laboratory of the Rockies (US)
- Argonne National Laboratory (US)
- Corresponding author
- Newes, Emily
- Venue
- Maritime Transport Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021
- Volume
- 2
- Pages
- 100033
- ISSN
- 2666-822X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3190224879
- Cited by
- 133
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 30 · 2025: 45 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 4.70
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Maritime Transport Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Bioenergy Technologies Office (DE-AC02-06CH11357, DE-AC36-08GO28308)
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Argonne National Laboratory
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Maritime Transport Emissions and Efficiency
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Ocean Engineering › Marine and Offshore Engineering Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Advanced Aircraft Design and Technologies
- Keywords
- alternative marine fuels, maritime decarbonization, marine shipping, international environmental regulation, fuel blends, marine engines, fuel infrastructure, stakeholder coordination, value chain, barriers to transition, research priorities, decision support
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
