Ocean liners: a greener gas as fuel

If the boats built in the port of Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) are used to being grandiose and majestic, the latest to date has another advantage on which the builders rely. The gas used for these liners is on this model replaced by liquefied natural gas (LNG), which has the big advantage of being less polluting. Although it is more expensive of 10 million euros, the LNG has other qualities. “With LNG, immediately, the reduction is 25% less CO2, so we agree to pay this additional price to be able to go in the right direction for the planet”says the director of MSc France-Belgium and Luxemburg.

If the use of this new fuel allows the almost total elimination of fine particles, it would still have certain disadvantages. It would cause methane leaks, this is in any case what environmental associations point out. In reality, these leaks would be more polluting than CO2. “It’s a climate bomb, we will have C02 emissions but also methane, which means that when we combine these two types of emissions, we end up with a climate balance that is much heavier”specifies Delphine Gozillonmember of the NGO Transport and Environment.