{"id":1928,"date":"2025-09-09T12:34:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T12:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tcap.blog\/?p=1928"},"modified":"2025-09-09T13:13:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T13:13:34","slug":"cummins-confidential-methanol-bollocks-all-gas-no-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tcap.blog\/2025\/09\/09\/cummins-confidential-methanol-bollocks-all-gas-no-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Cummins Confidential : Methanol Bollocks – All Gas, No Action"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Cummins, the diesel dinosaur parading as a climate saviour, is back waving the green flag with its methanol dual-fuel spiel. They\u2019d have you believe they\u2019re steering the shipping industry into a clean future. Reality check: it\u2019s all rhetoric and \u201capprovals in principle\u201d while the planet chokes on exhaust. Where are the engines actually cutting emissions on the water? Nowhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dual-Fuel Dodge: Readiness My Arse<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Eddie Brown, Cummins\u2019 marine bigwig, boasts that methanol dual-fuel \u201cmakes sense\u201d for their QSK60. They\u2019ve just landed a shiny DNV approval in principle<\/em>. Sounds impressive? Bollocks. An AIP is nothing more than a design nod \u2013 it means a drawing got stamped, not that a single ship is running it. It\u2019s the classic Cummins move: talk up \u201cbridges to carbon neutrality\u201d while clinging to the diesel cash-cow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They name-drop \u201cfuel-agnostic platforms\u201d and hydrogen experience, but in marine? It\u2019s all pilot wank, no hard commitments. Meanwhile, competitors like W\u00e4rtsil\u00e4 and MAN are actually testing methanol retrofits and methanol-ready prototypes on tankers. Cummins? Still at the doodle stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Accelera\u2019s Empty Tank: Bleeding Cash<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Enter Accelera – Cummins\u2019 so-called clean-energy star child. In 2024, the unit booked $414m in sales<\/strong>. But look under the hood: after reorganisation and impairment charges, the segment racked up a $764m operating loss<\/strong>, including a $312m \u201cstrategic reorganisation\u201d hit<\/strong>. Translation: they burned three-quarters of a billion dollars in a year, subsidised by diesel profits. Accelera isn\u2019t a bridge; it\u2019s a pothole swallowing cash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For comparison, Cummins overall pulled in $34.1bn in revenue and $3.9bn in net income<\/strong> the same year. The message? Clean tech is still a loss-leader, diesel keeps the lights on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Green Methanol Mirage: Scarce and Pricey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even Brown admits the truth: grey methanol is cheap but filthy, green methanol is scarce and costly. OCI is doubling capacity in the US to ~400,000 tonnes a year<\/strong>, but that\u2019s peanuts compared to what global shipping needs. In 2023, total green methanol output was just ~536,000 tonnes<\/strong> worldwide. With numbers like that, of course newbuild orders are diverting back to LNG. Cummins isn\u2019t leading here \u2013 they\u2019re sitting on the sidelines, waiting for fuel to magically appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And where\u2019s the lobbying, the bunkering partnerships, the real push? Nowhere. Just \u201cmeasured steps\u201d and \u201cpilots\u201d \u2013 code for stalling until regulators force their hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Enough Spin \u2013 Where\u2019s the Reckoning?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cummins brags the methanol journey \u201chas to start.\u201d Started? It\u2019s barely moved a metre. DNV nods and PowerPoint pilots aren\u2019t climate leadership; they\u2019re camouflage for protecting diesel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, rivals are running pilots, regulators like the EU are tightening screws, and Maersk is already sailing methanol-fuelled ships. Cummins, you\u2019re still drawing blueprints and cashing in on dirty engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investors, customers, regulators – smell the spin. Demand actual results, not press releases. Because right now? It\u2019s all gas, no action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sources<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n