Maritime Fuels (On-Shore Power) Bill

Due to its length, this bill can be found here.

This bill was submitted by u/Waffel-lol on behalf of the Liberal Democrats.

Opening Speech by /u/Waffel-lol

Madam Speaker,

Taking inspiration from many countries within Europe and their initiatives to combat carbon emissions from shipping, I am proud to present a concise bill that works in conjunction to see our maritime industry follow suit to achieve sustainability. Achieving significant reductions in CO2 emissions of maritime transport requires using both less energy (increasing energy efficiency) and cleaner types of energy (using renewable and low-carbon fuels). What this bill does is require ships at berth in British ports to connect on on-shore power, and imposes yearly greenhouse gas emission limits that rise to eventually see the use of harmful energy sources eliminated by 2050.

The first part of this bill deals with establishing the maximum fund of £2.64 billion that will see the necessary On-Shore power infrastructure, technology and capabilities established by the year 2025, to which the second part of this bill comes into effect by then. The time period does allow for ships themselves to adapt and ensure they meet the necessary capabilities and compatibility with the to be developed on-shore power infrastructure. Currently, upgrading electrical infrastructure is a really big challenge for ports and terminals globally, even impossible in some cases without the help of financial assistance which is why this is a necessity to further the achievement in CO2 emission reductions and transforming our infrastructure to provide sustainable replacements. This feeds into Part 2 of this bill which sets out the regulatory framework of administering and ensuring ships comply and adapt to the on-shore power requirements and the greenhouse gas emissions limitations that would aim to see usage decrease by at least 75% aboard ships by 2050.

This pragmatic and gradual approach that seeks to transform the maritime shipping fuel industry into one of clean and renewable energy is a bold plan that would work supplementing those of our biggest and key trading and shipping partners, and benefit the economy as we see long term costs shorter in energy use by weaning off the shipping industry’s use of fossil fuels for power. The European continent is where the UK dows around 40% of its trade in exports, and nearly 50% in exports, and given that some of our largest partners should as the Netherlands, Germany and France have all begun plans to develop on-shore power for maritime shipping, and mandate it, it is important we follow suit.

This division will end on Saturday 17th June at 10pm BST.