FuelEU Maritime
FuelEU Maritime is an EU regulation, in force from 2025, that sets progressively stricter limits on the greenhouse-gas intensity of the energy used on board ships calling at EU ports. Rather than taxing emissions (as EU ETS does), it targets the fuel itself, requiring the average GHG intensity of energy used to fall over time — 2% by 2025, tightening to 80% by 2050 — thereby pushing shipping toward low- and zero-carbon fuels.
It is measured on a well-to-wake basis (covering emissions from producing and burning the fuel), rewards the uptake of renewable and low-carbon fuels (including a specific push for e-fuels), and includes requirements for containerships and passenger ships to use shore power at major EU ports. Non-compliance incurs penalties, and ships can pool and bank compliance. FuelEU works alongside EU ETS and the IMO measures as part of the tightening regulatory drive on shipping's carbon — shifting the long-term calculus toward alternative fuels and energy efficiency.
Where EU ETS prices carbon, FuelEU Maritime forces the fuel to get cleaner — a steadily tightening cap on energy GHG-intensity that ultimately requires alternative fuels. Together they are reshaping the long-term fuel and investment decisions of everyone trading to Europe, making FuelEU a key driver of the shift to low-carbon shipping.
How does FuelEU Maritime differ from EU ETS?
EU ETS puts a price on CO2 emissions; FuelEU limits the greenhouse-gas intensity of the energy used, pushing ships toward cleaner fuels.
What is well-to-wake?
A lifecycle basis covering emissions from producing the fuel through to burning it on board — how FuelEU measures GHG intensity.