IH2A Proposes Green Fuel Hubs to Decarbonise Coastal Shipping and Aviation

The India Hydrogen Alliance (IH2A) has released its comprehensive 'Low-Carbon eFuels & Heavy Duty Transport Decarbonisation Report 2025-2030', which outlines the potential of low-carbon eFuels in transforming India’s heavy-duty transport sector.

The report highlights coastal shipping and aviation as key sectors that can greatly benefit from Green Methanol, Green Ammonia, and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to meet decarbonisation goals in the coming years.

According to the IH2A report, the low-carbon coastal shipping fleet in India could consist of 22 vessels powered by Green Methanol and another 22 powered by Green Ammonia. Additionally, the heavy-duty trucking fleet could include 30 trucks running on Green Methanol, 30 on Green Ammonia, and 30 on Green Hydrogen, significantly reducing the carbon footprint of road transport. The report also proposes the blending of SAF in aviation at 1-3 percent by 2030, across 122 domestic and international flights.

The report stresses that Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is one of the easiest and most effective ways to decarbonise aviation in the short term, as it can be used as a drop-in fuel, meaning it requires no new aircraft capital expenditure or re-fueling infrastructure. For coastal shipping, the report emphasises the sector’s potential to become a key volume driver for low-carbon e-fuels, particularly for Green Methanol and Green Ammonia, which could play an essential role in decarbonising India’s maritime transport.

One of the key recommendations from the report is the need to establish Green Fuel Hubs in strategic coastal locations along India’s East and West coasts. These hubs would serve as centralised sites for low-carbon eFuel production and refueling infrastructure, reducing offtake risks and minimising the costs associated with building refueling infrastructure for these new fuels in the short term.

The report also highlights the substantial CAPEX required for developing fleets powered by Green Methanol, Green Ammonia, and Liquid/Compressed Gaseous Hydrogen, along with the necessary refueling infrastructure. To accelerate adoption, the IH2A advocates for incentives aimed at fleet owners to transition to low-carbon vehicles and invest in refuelling stations.

Further, the report points at the importance of international collaboration. The report suggests that cross-border partnerships, particularly with Singapore for the use of Green Methanol as maritime fuel and with the European Union for SAF in aviation, will be key to achieving decarbonisation in India’s transport sector. These partnerships can help drive the adoption of green fuels and contribute to meeting India’s long-term climate and emissions reduction targets.

Amrit Singh Deo, the IH2A Secretariat lead, stated, “Aviation and Coastal Shipping are two clear priorities for decarbonising transport with low-carbon eFuels. Coastal Shipping can deliver the volumes while SAF as a drop-in fuel is the easiest to deploy in the short-term. Strategic Low-Carbon eFuel Partnerships with Singapore and Europe will help drive eFuel adoption. Transport fleet owners, in shipping and trucking, will require CAPEX support to introduce low-carbon vehicles in their heavy-duty transport fleets. Without demand-side incentives to transport fleet owners, adoption of eFuel powered vehicles will be slow. Low carbon eFuels have an important role to play in decarbonising heavy duty transport but close coordination between policy makers, e-fuel producers and fleet owners are required.”

IH2A’s report sets out a roadmap for a sustainable, low-carbon transport future, with a focus on leveraging Green Fuels to decarbonise some of India’s most challenging transport sectors.