This study compares two production pathways for ammonia with low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) used as fuel in shipping. The ammonia is produced through the Haber‐Bosch process, where nitrogen (N2) and hydrogen (H2) are combined into NH3. The main difference between the two ammonia production pathways lies in the H2 production, as the H2 can be from natural gas (CH4) in combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS) or via electrolysis of water (H2O) with renewable electricity sources. Within the industry, the two pathways are often called ‘blue’ and ‘green’ ammonia.
Ammonia must be ignited by a pilot fuel, which is assumed to be VLSFO, and the study therefore compares 1 MJ of ammonia, where VLSFO accounts for 9.6% of the total fuel energy of 1 MJ ammonia, with 1 MJ of VLSFO. Throughout the report, the share of VLSFO as a pilot fuel needed to ignite ammoni a is referred to as ‘ammonia with 9.6% e/e VLSFO’.
The LCA includes all life cycle stages from cradle to grave of ammonia fuel and VLSFO, i.e., production of fuel feedstock, fuel production, distribution and bunkering, as well as storage and combustion on board of the ship. This system boundary is often referred to as ‘well-to-wake’ (WtW).
The report includes two modelling approach: a consequential model and an attributional model aligned with the revised version of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) guidelines for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs).
This report is commissioned by A.P. Moller – Maersk and internal quality assurance has been ensured by inviting several relevant stakeholders to take part in the project scoping, data collection, and review of methods and assumptions. While the partners have contributed to validating the technical aspects, they have not participated in the interpretation of the results.
The project partners include: A.P. Moller – Maersk, Environmental Defense Fund Europe, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, CMA CGM, DFDS A/S, American Bureau of Shipping, MAN Energy Solutions, Svitzer A/S and Havenbedrijf Rotterdam N.V.
Appendix 9 – Marginal electricity mixes
Appendix 11 – Final review statement and itemized review report
Download full report here:
This report evaluates the sustainability of various used for biofuel production. The assessment covers ten different feedstocks, including Used Cooking Oil (UCO), Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) oil, Spent Bleach Earth (SBE) oil, soap stock acid oils, animal fats, Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) bottoms, brown grease, sewage, and food waste. The key aspects analysed for each feedstock include overall sustainability concerns, plausible global volumes, competing industries, potential risks of indirect land use change (iLUC), geographical dependencies, and potential mitigating actions.
Our collaboration with Arla began in 2011 with a carbon footprint of Arla’s milk production in Denmark and Sweden. This work has since expanded and been updated through several iterations into an advanced dairy LCA model. Arla uses this model for baselines and benchmarks of its sustainability goals, as well as a tool for individual farmers to understand where their emissions originate.
Today, the dairy LCA model powers Arla’s FarmAhead™ Check tool, which enables 7,986 farmers across seven European countries to calculate the exact GHG footprint of 1 kg of raw milk from their specific farm.
The tool accounts for over 200 farm inputs, including cow feed, fertiliser use, cattle breeds, manure treatment technologies such as biogas, and energy and fuel consumption. These inputs are combined in the LCA model to produce a farm-specific carbon footprint of the milk.
We continuously update and maintain the LCA model to improve the level of detail in the background data and models, as well as incorporating the best techniques for mitigating GHG emissions in milk production.
This design offers Arla full transparency and data autonomy.
The FarmAhead™ Check tool allows Arla to monitor the progress of its climate strategy and assist farmers in reducing emissions by spotting the most effective reductions.
81% of Arla’s total corporate emissions come from its farmers,[1] and the LCA tool provides unprecedented data transparency into where the emissions originate and how top-performing farmers can lead the way for others to do the same.
By 2022, 99% of Arla’s owner milk volume had been assessed by the FarmAhead™ Check tool. The tool makes it possible for Arla to create a data driven and personalised action plan for each farmer to reduce their climate footprint even further.
Our model includes new GHG mitigation technologies as they become relevant for the farmers, including manure acidification and nitrification inhibitors.
[1] https://www.arla.com/49b894/globalassets/arla-global/sustainability/climate-ambition/arla-climate-ambitions-2030-and-2050-2023.pdf p. 7
One Planet Foundation developed this publication in 2020, as a contribution to the UNEP project titled “Addressing Land Use Changes Leakage in Sustainable Land Use Financing and ‘Deforestation Free’ Claims” of the UNEP Life Cycle Initiative. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Environment Programme. We regret any errors or omissions that may have been unwittingly made.
The boundaries and names shown, and the designations used on any map used in this publication do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations. For general guidance on matters relating to the use of maps in publications please go to https://www.un.org/geospatial.
Mention of a commercial company or product in this document does not imply endorsement by the United Nations Environment Programme or the authors. The use of information from this document for publicity or advertising is not permitted. Trademark names and symbols are used in an editorial fashion with no intention on infringement of trademark or copyright laws.
LCA is a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the life cycle stages of a product or service from ‘cradle to grave’. Over the last decade, United Plantations Berhad has worked intensively to reduce their environmental impacts and this ongoing project is part of the underlying research.
The primary purpose of the project is to document and assess the environmental impacts from the production of palm oil at United Plantations Berhad. Secondly, the purpose is to follow over time the GHG emissions from the production of palm oil at United Plantations Berhad. Thirdly, to compare United Plantation Berhad’s production of palm oil with average Malaysian/Indonesian palm oil and other major vegetable oils, and fourthly, to analyse improvement options for United Plantation Berhad’s production of palm oil.
This project currently consists of eight studies carried out for United Plantations Berhad in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. The study in 2008 was the first LCA of palm oil ever, which was fully compliant with and critical reviewed according to the international standards on LCA: ISO 14040 and 14044.
The environmental impact of palm oil is presented in the reports as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, i.e. carbon footprint, as well as for a number of other impact categories such as biodiversity, respiratory effects and toxicity. The environmental impacts relate to the life cycle of palm oil from cultivation to the gate of the refinery, including all upstream emissions, e.g. from the production of fertilisers, fuels and machinery.
Recent reports:
LCA of palm oil at United Plantations Berhad 2023 (Results 2004-2022)
LCA of palm oil at United Plantations Berhad 2022 (Results 2004-2021)
LCA of palm oil at United Plantations Berhad 2021 (Results 2004-2020)
LCA of palm oil at United Plantations Berhad 2020 (Results 2004-2019)
LCA of palm oil at United Plantations Berhad 2019 (Results 2004-2018)
LCA of palm oil at United Plantations Berhad 2017 (Results 2004-2016)
LCA of palm oil at United Plantations Berhad 2014 (Results 2004-2013)
A.P. Moeller Maersk is taking a stand to move the company towards a more ambitious corporate climate commitment. This has led to a top rating by the Climate Corporate Responsibility Monitor in February 2022 for the integrity of the Maersk net zero pledge.
Maersk is one of the biggest players in the global logistics market. We work with Maersk in their quest to reduce the impacts from their hard-to-abate transport business, with the explicit goal of helping Maersk push the entire market toward greener modes of operation.
2.-0 LCA consultants provide science-based support on:
Read more here on Maersk’s own pages on climate change
This report is carried out by Michele De Rosa and Jannick Schmidt (2-0 LCA, Denmark) for United Plantations Berhad (Teluk Intan, Malaysia). The study includes data collection and calculation of LCA results for United Plantations Berhad’s palm oil production 2004-2021. The study was undertaken during the period January to February 2022.
The current report updates the results of a series of previous studies, to include also the most recent 2021 results, and it summarises the main findings of a detailed life cycle assessment report of palm oil production at United Plantations in the period 2004-2021.
This report is carried out by Jannick Schmidt and Michele De Rosa (2.-0 LCA consultants, Denmark) for United Plantations Berhad (Teluk Intan, Malaysia). The study includes data collection and calculation of LCA results for United Plantations Berhad’s palm oil production 2004-2020. The study was undertaken during the period January to March 2021.
The current report updates the results of a series of previous studies, in order to include also the most recent 2020 results, and it summarises the main findings of a detailed life cycle assessment report of palm oil production at United Plantations in the period 2004-2020.
Consumers are increasingly demanding products containing palm oil produced without harm to the environment. The industry response to this demand has been the creation of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the development of a certification system to ensure sustainable palm oil production. However, currently there is no scientific evidence of the benefit gained through the RSPO certification schema. This paper quantifies the environmental impacts of RSPO certified and non-certified through a detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of 1 kg of RBD palm oil to factory gate, produced in Indonesia and Malaysia in 2016, to identify potential benefits and trade-offs of RSPO certification. The ISO 14040/14044 compliant LCA is carried out following both a consequential and an attributional LCA approach. The inventory model presents a high level of detail. Primary inventory data describing the certified production system are obtained from RSPO assessment reports, covering 73% (634 estates) of the certified estate, including 111 smallholders, and 58% (165 oil mills) of the certified mills. Data for the total industrial production are drawn from national statistics and scientific literature. The non-certified flows are derived by subtracting the certified flows from the total industry flows. The consequential results show that RSPO certified oil reduces GHG emission by 35% compared to non-certified i.e. 3.41 (2.61–4.48) kg CO2 eq./kg for certified vs 5.34 (3.34–8.16) kg CO2 eq./kg for non-certified. Based on a thorough data quality assessment and uncertainty analysis, this result is deemed sufficiently robust and thus conclusive. Certified production achieves the largest GHG emissions reduction because of higher yields, i.e. less land use per unit of product, less oil palm cultivated on peat soil and higher share of palm oil mill effluents treated with biogas capture technologies. We also found that nature occupation is reduced by 20% in certified production while respiratory inorganic is slightly higher (3%) in certified production, due to the larger use of fertilisers. For other impact categories, results are associated with a larger uncertainty and therefore shall be considered as indicative. Similar results are found in attributional modelling.
