Maritime sector pathways toward net-zero emissions within global energy scenarios

TL;DR

This paper explores how the maritime sector can achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 through integrated strategies involving energy efficiency, biofuels, hydrogen, and ammonia.

Contribution

The study integrates a maritime emission model into a global energy framework to assess decarbonization pathways.

Findings

Combining energy efficiency, biofuels, hydrogen, and ammonia is crucial for maritime decarbonization by 2030.

Renewable energy could enable significant emissions reductions with cost increases of 2-30%.

Cost increases are estimated at 10.2% for Global North and 13.3% for Global South countries.

Abstract

The maritime sector’s transition toward decarbonization cannot occur in isolation, rather it will be tied to broader transformations in energy, economic, and societal systems. Yet, most existing studies often overlook this integrated perspective, focusing primarily on sector-specific strategies without considering broader societal changes and energy availability on a global scale. To address this gap, this study integrates the MariTeam ship emission model into the MESSAGEix-GLOBIOM integrated assessment framework. Through this approach, we assess how climate scenarios may influence the maritime sector’s trajectory toward achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, in line with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) targets. Our findings indicate that action before 2030 is crucial and it can be achieved through combining four key solutions: improvements in energy efficiency, biofuels, liquefied hydrogen, and ammonia. Furthermore, the results suggest that the maritime sector could have access to enough renewables to achieve substantial emissions reductions with increase in final product costs ranging from 2 to 30% (interquartile range) with variations across products and regions. On average, cost increases are estimated at 10.2% for Global North countries and 13.3% for Global South countries. This analysis highlights the urgency and scale of transformation required for the maritime industry to meet the IMO’s net-zero ambitions and align with broader global sustainability goals.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-35909-4.

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