Washington, DC, November 13 – Today, ZEMBA announced it will focus exclusively on catalyzing the first commercial deployment of e-fuels in the maritime sector through its next tender, set to launch in January 2025. ZEMBA will aim to aggregate at least 80 billion tonne nautical miles of demand for the emissions abatement associated with e-fuel-powered container shipping for deployment starting in 2027. This would equate to 1.4 million twenty-foot containers transported across the Pacific Ocean by e-fuels, assuming a benchmark distance of Shanghai to Los Angeles.
Through this tender, ZEMBA will enable its member companies to abate nearly 470,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. ZEMBA membership has grown to 40 multinational companies, with over 10 new members including AIT Worldwide, dsm-firmenich, Frog Bikes, GEPA, Olyra, Pernod Ricard, Poly Medicure, Sanofi, SEKO Logistics, and Vaude.
Through this next tender, ZEMBA seeks:
- 3–5-year contracts for e-fuel-powered container shipping starting in 2027
- E-fuels bids that achieve at least 90% emission reduction for primary propulsion
- Bids from individual ocean container carriers or consortiums, with ZEMBA being open to the possibility of multiple winners
“ZEMBA is making history by voluntarily catalyzing commercial e-fuel deployment through our next collective tender,” said Ingrid Irigoyen, President and CEO of ZEMBA. “Our members are demonstrating that freight buyers are willing to make multi-year advanced offtake commitments now to incentivize the creation of new markets for the most scalable solutions, which will be required for them to achieve their 2030 and 2040 climate goals. By creating economies of scale and targeting investment in the right long-term solutions, our members can also accelerate the pace and manage overall costs of this clean energy transition.”
Interested bidders are invited to contact ZEMBA at rfp@shipzemba.org to begin preparing for the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. The new ZEMBA website hosts several resources to assist in the RFP process, including: an in-depth overview of the tender scope and ZEMBA’s updated Sustainability Framework. These resources were developed in close collaboration with the Center for Green Market Activation, Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub, and Pillsbury. Additional materials will be provided to eligible bidders when the tender is launched in January 2025. All interested stakeholders are welcome to register for an upcoming webinar on November 21st to learn more.
ZEMBA’s e-fuel focus for the upcoming second tender builds off experience gained during its successful inaugural tender that introduced a new very low emission fuel alternative to freight buyers in the maritime sector – liquified biomethane from waste. ZEMBA’s inaugural tender was completed in April 2024. Global carrier Hapag-Lloyd was the winner and is supporting members to collectively abate at least 82,000 metric tonnes of GHGs in 2025 and 2026. The design of the second tender is also grounded in the goals and aspirations of ZEMBA member companies and insights gained from a Request for Information conducted earlier this year in collaboration with the Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub.
For Media
Inquiries may be directed to:
Taylor Goelz
Senior Program Manager for Ocean & Climate
taylor.goelz@aspeninstitute.org.
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ABOUT ZEMBA
The Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA), a non-profit organization is a first-of-its-kind buyers group within the maritime sector, the aim of which is to accelerate commercial deployment of zero-emission shipping, enable economies of scale, and help cargo owners maximize emissions reduction potential beyond what any one freight buyer could accomplish alone.
The Aspen Institute’s Energy and Environment Program serves as the ZEMBA secretariat. Technical and legal support are provided by several key partners. The Center for Green Market Activation (GMA) is a US-based, globally focused non-profit working to catalyze and scale the uptake of low-carbon goods and services within carbon intensive industries such as aviation, maritime, trucking, cement and concrete, and chemicals. Lloyd’s Register Maritime Decarbonisation Hub is an independent, not-for-profit social purpose organization, working towards a vision of a safe, sustainable, and human-centric decarbonized shipping industry for the benefit of society. The law firm Pillsbury acts as legal counsel and provides procurement expertise. The nearly 40 current members of ZEMBA encourage additional climate-leading companies to join us in continuing to send an ever-stronger demand signal for e-fuel-powered shipping services through our next tender. Learn more at www.shipzemba.org.
