The first high-speed marine engine that runs entirely on methanol has been demonstrated in initial bench tests at Rolls-Royce.
Following six years in development, this bench test was a milestone, according to Denise Kurtulus, head of marine business at Rolls-Royce, who said: “We've proven that CO2-free marine propulsion with combustion engines is possible.”
The engine manufacturer performed the test at its advanced engineering division in Friedrichshafen, Germany, demonstrating that a 2,000kW engine can run entirely on methanol.
Dr Jörg Stratmann, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems, said: “This is a genuine world first. To date, there is no other high-speed engine in this performance class that runs purely on methanol.”
Methanol is considered one of the major contenders as a green shipping fuel. If it is produced using electricity from renewable energies (known as green methanol), its operation is CO2-neutral. And unlike, other sustainable fuels, such as ammonia and hydrogen, methanol...