Free Foundation

Alternative Fuels for Shipping

A fuel-by-fuel tour of every serious contender, LNG, LPG, methanol, ammonia, hydrogen, biofuels, e-fuels, batteries and nuclear, built on one comparison framework, so you can weigh energy density, safety, cost and availability the way an owner's technical team does.

Lessons
12
Quiz questions
96
Time
About 80 min
Who it's for
Technical superintendents, newbuilding and fleet teams, performance analysts, chartering and operations staff: anyone who will sit in a meeting where a fuel decision gets made and wants to follow every argument.
Assumed knowledge
None. Familiarity with basic engine-room vocabulary helps. Our course Maritime Regulations, Explained pairs well, since fuel choice and compliance cost are two halves of the same decision.
Taught by

Christos Papandreou

CEO & Founder, Blue Autonomy

  • Naval architect and marine engineer, National Technical University of Athens
  • 15 years of experience in fleet performance and operational data
  • Chief Scientist, NEMO — previously DeepSea Technologies, StormGeo, Athenian Sea Carriers, PwC

Part of the Maritime Decarbonisation & Compliance specialisation.

What you will be able to do

By the end of the course. Each outcome names the lessons that deliver it, and each lesson's quiz checks it.

  1. Explain why fuel choice became a structural, decades-long commercial decision, and interpret orderbook statistics (LNG ≈ 1,259 ships on order versus methanol 385, LPG 139, hydrogen 53 in the January 2026 Lloyd's Register data) as evidence of maturity and trade fit rather than as a verdict on the winner. Lesson 1
  2. Apply the six-axis comparison framework — energy per tonne and per cubic metre of tank (containment included), well-to-wake versus tank-to-wake emissions, safety character, availability on the ship's rotation, and engine readiness — to any fuel claim, and identify which axis a given headline quietly skipped. Lesson 2
  3. Assess the gaseous incumbents: weigh LNG's system maturity against methane slip by engine concept (high-pressure Diesel versus low-pressure Otto) and its −162 °C cryogenic storage, and explain why LPG adoption concentrates in gas carriers, given its milder storage (≈ −42 °C or moderate pressure) and mid-teens CO2 saving. Lessons 3, 4
  4. Assess the ambient-liquid and zero-carbon candidates: methanol's near-conventional tanks and bunkering against its ~12 °C flashpoint, toxicity and 2.4–2.5× tank volume; ammonia's carbon-free combustion against the airborne toxicity (20 ppm occupational ceiling, safe havens, dispersion-modelled zones) and N2O by-product that reshape design and training; and hydrogen's storage physics (−253 °C, poor volumetric density, embrittlement, wide flammability) that confine it to short-sea niches, distinguishing the fuel-cell and combustion routes. Lessons 5, 6, 7
  5. Evaluate the pathway fuels and outliers on the same framework: biofuels as certified drop-ins (FAME versus HVO housekeeping, the 30% MARPOL Annex VI blend line, RED-certification as the gate to credit, the feedstock ceiling); e-fuels as electricity in chemical form (≈ 50 kWh per kg of electrolytic hydrogen, closed carbon loops, why RFNBOs are singled out); batteries where energy density permits (full-electric on short fixed routes, hybrid peak-shaving and spinning reserve, thermal runaway as the signature hazard); and nuclear, whose binding constraints are ports, liability and insurance rather than the reactor. Lessons 8, 9, 10, 11
  6. Structure a fuel decision under uncertainty: state precisely what a fuel-ready class notation certifies (verified provisions, not capability), locate the real cost centres of a conversion (tanks, steel and systems rather than the engine kit), and defend a staged-commitment strategy priced against the ship's own trade, charterers and remaining life. Lesson 12

Every ship ordered today is a bet on a fuel, and for the first time in a century, the industry cannot agree on which one. The orderbook splits across LNG, methanol, LPG, ammonia and hydrogen, with biofuels blending into existing tanks and batteries, e-fuels and even nuclear waiting at different distances behind them.

This course does not pick a winner, because the honest answer is that no single fuel wins everywhere. Instead it gives you the tools professionals use to compare them: energy per tonne and per cubic metre of tank, well-to- wake versus tank-to-wake emissions, safety character, engine and bunkering readiness, and cost. Lesson 2 builds that framework; lessons 3 to 11 then walk through each fuel with the same questions, so the differences stand out instead of blurring together. The closing lesson turns to the decision itself: what a fuel-ready notation really buys, when a conversion pays, and how an owner chooses under genuine uncertainty.

Numbers are given wherever they exist: orderbook counts, storage temperatures, toxicity thresholds, blend limits. By the end you should be able to read a fuel headline, place the claim on the right axis, and ask the one question the press release skipped.

What the course covers

  1. The Fuel Transition Landscape 6 min
  2. How to Compare Fuels Without Fooling Yourself 7 min
  3. LNG: The Incumbent Alternative 7 min
  4. LPG: The Quiet Option 6 min
  5. Methanol: Liquid at Ambient Conditions 7 min
  6. Ammonia: Zero Carbon, With a Toxicity Problem 7 min
  7. Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Fighting the Storage Physics 7 min
  8. Biofuels: The Drop-In Bridge 7 min
  9. E-Fuels: Making Fuel from Electricity 7 min
  10. Batteries and Hybrid Power: Where Electrons Win 6 min
  11. Nuclear Propulsion: The Long Game 6 min
  12. Fuel-Ready Ships and Retrofit Strategy 7 min

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