- The decarbonisation of heavy road and maritime transport depends, to a large extent, on the use of renewable gases and their derivatives.
- Biomethane (bioCNG and bioLNG) represents an immediate opportunity for the decarbonisation of the growing fleet of gas-powered heavy duty vehicles and ships, supported by the advanced development of the supply infrastructure.
- In 2022, biomethane accounted for less than 1% of gas consumption in transport, far below the European average (25%), despite the growth in CNG/LNG bus and truck registrations to 23% and 4.6% respectively, which puts us ahead of Europe..
- In shipping, international orders for LNG-powered ships break records in 2021 and 2022, projecting 250% growth by 2030. First orders for methanol- and hydrogen-powered ships begin.
- An exponential increase in biomethane production is expected to increase tenfold over the next two years in Spain, a key factor in the decarbonisation of heavy transport.
- Spain is far from meeting the ambitious hydropower deployment targets demanded by Europe, although one third of the announced hydrogen production plants will be for transport.
- The implementation of regulatory reforms, pending in Europe, will bring with it strong pressure to decarbonise the sector.
Decarbonising heavy transport depends, to a large extent, on the use of renewable gases and their derivatives. This is one of the main conclusions of the report ‘The decarbonisation of heavy transport in Spain and Portugal’, carried out by the Technological Research Institute of the Comillas Pontifical University and commissioned by Gasnam-Neutral Transport, which argues that these fuels have avoided the emission of 500,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere in the Iberian Peninsula in 2022.
The study makes a diagnosis of the current state and use of alternative fuels in the heavy land and maritime transport sector in the Iberian Peninsula. This is an essential sector for achieving a carbon-neutral economy by mid-century, but it is currently heavily dominated by petroleum-based fuels due to the high energy density it demands, making renewable gases and their derivatives (biomethane, hydrogen and e-fuels) the solution for tackling the climate challenge.
Biomethane, an immediate solution for the growing number of gas-powered heavy-duty vehicles and ships
23% of new bus registrations in Spain in 2022 were CNG, while the share of LNG truck registrations reached 4.6%.
Our country is the third in Europe in terms of CNG buses and the first in terms of trucks. However, despite the fact that these vehicles can already run on biomethane without any type of modification, less than 1% of the gas consumed in transport in 2022 was of renewable origin. This is a very different situation to that in other neighbouring countries, where the share of biomethane in transport is as high as 95% in Sweden and 90% in Germany.
In the maritime sector, despite more than 99% of the world fleet being powered by oil-based fuels, a record number of LNG-fuelled ships were ordered in 2021 and 2022 and the LNG-fuelled fleet is expected to increase 2.5-fold by 2030. Methanol (51) and hydrogen (8) ships were also ordered in 2022.
Advanced development of supply infrastructure for biomethane in road and maritime transport
Spain has 250 CNG/LNG refuelling points, to which must be added 30 in the pipeline, all of which are able to supply biomethane without having to make any type of modification.
In the maritime sector, it is worth noting that in 2022, LNG supply operations were carried out to ships in 16 ports on the Iberian Peninsula, making us a benchmark at European level. Furthermore, Spain and Portugal are in an advantageous position with regard to the supply of hydrogen-derived fuels to ships, given that a large number of ports already carry out logistical operations with ammonia and methanol.
Biomethane production capacity deployment accelerates
The report highlights that an exponential increase in biomethane production is foreseen, which could increase tenfold in Spain between 2022 and 2025.
Despite the decisive role that biomethane can play in the decarbonisation of transport, in Spain there are only 8 production plants (349 GWh/year) and 13 pilot plants (22.86 GWh/year), with less than 4% of this production capacity going to transport in 2022. Seven of the commercial plants inject biomethane into the natural gas grid, while the pilot plants focus on producing biomethane for direct use in vehicles.
Spain is far from meeting Europe’s ambitious hydrogen refuelling station (HRS) deployment targets.
In 2022, hydrogen fuel cell buses timidly began to make inroads with the incorporation of 9 units, despite the almost non-existent network of supply points. Our country has only nine HRS’s, of which only two are publicly accessible. These figures are a long way from the targets set for 2030 in the Hydrogen Roadmap (100-150 for Spain) and in the European AFIR regulation, which proposes one HRS open to the public every 200 km in the TEN-T network and in urban centres. These stations must also have the capacity to supply one tonne of hydrogen daily and at least one 700bar dispenser. However, most of the nine existing HRS’s in Spain have a supply capacity of less than 100 kg/day, which is far from the amount required in Europe.
Transport, one of the main consumers of renewable hydrogen projects
The report also shows strong interest in producing renewable hydrogen and its derivatives, with nearly 100 green hydrogen production projects in the Iberian peninsula, of which one third have declared that part of their production will be used for transport. According to these data, the accumulated electrolysis capacity in Spain would amount to 18.1 GW, well exceeding the target set in the Hydrogen Roadmap of 4 GW by 2030. However, most of these projects are still in a very preliminary stage.
The implementation of regulatory reforms pending approval in Europe will bring strong pressure to decarbonize the sector
The transformation of the heavy transport sector is in its embryonic stage. However, the intense legislative activity in Europe will translate into a set of regulatory levers that will trigger the decarbonisation process, Establishing obligations for all segments of the value chain from production to user, through supply or vehicle.
The biggest push comes from the Fit for 55 package, a set of standards designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Of these, the inclusion of transport sectors in the ETS system and emission intensity reduction requirements (RED III, FuelEU Maritime) stand out. These standards are complemented by the REPowerEU plan with the upward revision of targets for hydrogen production/consumption and the promotion of biomethane as key tools to drive energy transition.
