On the one hand there is the carbon tax and energy efficiency, on the other the need to invest in technology today to build Net Zero ships in 2050. In the middle large industrial groups such as Fincantieri which must innovate and at the same time be competitive on international markets. This is not a joke Why Brussels continues to raise the bar. With the carbon tax, which came into force on October 1st, users of imported steel will also have to report the emissions made by their suppliers, even if they are outside the European Community. A game of massacre, with forced stages, which risks putting the entire Italian heavy industry sector in difficulty. With the added risk of playing in Beijing’s favor.
The new tax mechanism works like this
“The transitional period began on October 1st #CBAM (carbon border adjustment mechanism) applied by the Commission on sectors with high CO2 emissions such as steel and aluminium” he explains Gianclaudio Torlizzi, founder of the independent consultancy firm T-commodity, as well as consultant to the Ministries of Defense and Business and of Made in Italy for the analysis of raw material flows. The expert, who on several occasions he reiterated the need to postpone the objectives of the green dealdoes not hide his concerns about the new tax.
“European companies will have to report on a quarterly basis the quantity of CO2 emissions necessary for the production of steel/aluminium imported from non-EU countries. The madness is that the EU importer will have to explain to the non-EU producer how to calculate the CO2. Among other things, this is sensitive data that the non-EU supplier will never give” he adds.
“The risk is that European companies, in order not to comply with this regulation, will transfer production to neighboring non-EU countries such as Turkey and Serbia. In fact, it is important to highlight how this provision only concerns the raw material, not the finished product. Therefore the even greater risk of this measure is to give a gift to Beijing which will invade us with its finished products” he concludes.
Decarbonisation is an unprecedented challenge for the shipbuilding and cruise industry
“We have been working for years on the topic of decarbonisation and the carbon tax, considering the various evolutions of the regulation up to Net zero expected in 2050, with all its variations” he explains to Verità & Affari Marco Bognolo, vice president basic design direction of merchant ships, delegate for decarbonisation in Fincantieri. A concrete example? The FuelEU Maritime, which is a text that expresses how various fuels contribute to reducing the impact on emissions, as the expert explains. “It is a complex scenario that allows us to understand the very varied world within which companies operate” concludes Bognolo, who highlights how over the years the group has invested in innovation precisely to make the new ships in step with environmental targets.
Fincantieri’s industrial plan has three guidelines to achieve its decarbonisation objectives
The group first moved on reduction of consumption in ship construction. Design has in fact changed a lot compared to ten years ago and uses extremely complicated and sophisticated, technologically advanced systems. Even taking advantage of artificial intelligence. Secondly, Fincantieri has focused on changing the way of cruising which involves not only the shipbuilding industry, but also profoundly the world of infrastructure and operators in the sector. One of the consequences of this new EU emissions taxation system, for example, is the fact that certain itineraries are no longer sustainable. To meet emissions targets, ships will be forced to slow down and evaluate new, shorter itineraries. With all the consequences of the case on cruise routes and also on the ports where the ships stop. Finally, Fincantrieri is aligning itself with FuelEU Maritime which concerns the transition to alternative fuels.
Meanwhile in Brussels there has been an acceleration in the analysis of alternative fuels
But it is not a painless choice for the shipbuilding industry. This phenomenon, driven by the Union, brings with it the need to make significant investments in innovation for the development of new technologies. Not only. The change involved the world of ship design and management, including the supply chain such as fuel logistics in ports. Furthermore, the regulatory evolution could lead to the exit from the market of some ships in circulation. For example, there are those who already envisage the replacement of old ships, from twenty or thirty years ago, such as the Greek ferries.
Meanwhile, Net Zero by 2050 is practically a very close goal for a sector that requires years of work to build a ship. Just think that It takes between 5 and 6 years from the moment a shipbuilding company contacts a potential customer for the delivery of the ship which has an expectation of approximately 25 years. But due to the new environmental targets, today it would take a crystal ball to offer for sale a ship that could be zero emissions in 2050.
Investors are particularly attentive to Fincantieri’s change effort
In short, decarbonisation is an extremely complex process. In particular, Fincantieri is tackling it by transferring all the information on the work it is doing to international investors. “We have a very rich sustainability plan because it truly involves all divisions of the company. Is composed by 41 objectives with 300 sub-objectives which was perceived very positively by the financial community in absolute transparency” he specified Emanuela Bacci, responsible for Fincantieri’s sustainability report. This is also a way to better navigate towards the energy transition objectives.