DELAYING the Maritime Environment Protection Committee’s vote to adopt the Net-Zero Framework came as a surprise to many maritime players last month who were certain that it would be adopted.

Green fuel investments that were made in anticipation of the NZF adoption by the International Maritime Organization will be challenged by the delay.

But green energy firms with a broader industry scope beyond the maritime space will be able to weather this road bump according to green hydrogen producer InterContinental Energy. 

The firm is trying to break into the maritime sector, having already been involved in other heavy industries.

Its chief executive Alexander Tancock sees another year of uncertainty ahead in the maritime sector. But with ICE’s focus on green hydrogen, he expects the impact of the delay to be minimal to his firm.

“The large volumes of green fuels based on hydrogen are not really going to come online until the mid-2030s. So, a year delay [in the NZF adoption] for a company like us is not the end of the world,” Tancock said in an interview with Lloyd’s List on the sidelines of the Financial Times Energy Transition Summit in London.

Investors who have been betting on the NZF can find consolation in the EU’s FuelEU maritime regulations, which should keep demand for green energy somewhat buoyed despite IMO’s postponement.

Nonetheless, Tancock perceived the MEPC postponement as “disappointing versus what could have been happening with the IMO”. Another delay next year could cause more uncertainty.

In addition to FuelEU, green energy firms can also find refuge in advancements in adoption of green standards in other industries to soften this blow. Tancock credited China’s emission reduction ambitions for driving big changes across global industries. 

Tancock specifically highlighted China’s ability to innovate on the producer’s end to drive down costs. Cost has been the biggest barrier to alternative energy adoption en masse. 

But today, it is almost impossible not to mention China and geopolitics in the same breath with ongoing tit-for-tat tariffs and port fees between the US and China.

Threats of tariffs from the US took centre stage at last month’s NZF vote. The US threatened tariffs on countries that voted in favour of its adoption, deterring positive votes.

Tancock sees geopolitics as an issue that will not go away in the next few years, transcending both the shipping industry and the green fuels sector.

“If you think of the last 20, 30 years, it’s been a relatively benign environment in which the market drove many decisions in a way. I think we’re transitioning to a period in time where the geopolitics matters more.”

But in the long term, Tancock believes that the industry will return to relative normalcy where markets drive decisions by 2040, when he expects green hydrogen production to be balanced with the industry’s requirements.