The infrastructure required to bunker hydrogen at scale has kept it out of reach for most commercial marine operators — but onboard generation is changing that calculus. Methanol-to-hydrogen reforming offers a new path by generating hydrogen on demand using a fuel already widely transported and handled across global marine and inland waterway operations.
This session moves past theoretical feasibility to examine what early deployment is revealing, drawing on projects spanning hybrid-electric ferries, workboats, shoreside power applications, and the first commercial sale of a fully integrated methanol reformer and marine fuel-cell solution.
Attendees will:
- Understand how methanol-to-hydrogen reforming works and why it sidesteps the infrastructure barriers that have slowed hydrogen adoption in commercial marine
- Learn what early integration projects are revealing about engineering, hybrid load management, and retrofit pathways
- Explore how containerized and modular deployments are extending methanol-based hydrogen systems beyond propulsion into port and shoreside power applications including cold ironing, EV charging, and temporary microgrids
- Get a data-grounded view of emissions performance, including lifecycle greenhouse gas analysis and NOx reductions compared with conventional diesel systems
