The bulk carrier with low additional value is difficult to choose the decarbonization path due to the cost control. The current study qualitatively analyzes the applicability of carbon capture system on the bulk carrier, and quantitatively analyzes the applicability of alternative fuel, such as biodiesel, LNG, grey methanol, green methanol, green ammonia, on the bulk carrier. The carbon capture system is not suitable for the bulk carrier, because it has problems such as the high energy consumption for capture, the CO ₂ storage tanks occupying the cargo tank volume, and the captured CO ₂ that is difficult to handle. The preliminary economy calculation of the alternative fuel is relatively poor due to the high cost and the capacity loss of the cargo tank that was caused by the low volume energy density. Considering that the use of the conventional fuel may face carbon tax, the green ammonia powered ship has certain advantages when the carbon tax is above 439 dollars/t, and the green methanol has application advantages when the carbon tax is above 692 dollars/t.

Starting from the investigation of domestic ship owners, the application of alternative fuels to international ships has been analyzed in view of the concerns of ship owners, such as fuel supply, main engine technology and fueling infrastructure. The results show that LNG, as the most mature alternative fuel at present, possesses great potential for further development in the short and medium term, while methanol and ammonia have increasing share in the medium and long term. It is predicted that the proportion of ocean-going alternative fuel powered ships in 2030 and 2040 is only 5% and 11%. In order to cope with the general trend in the future, it is necessary to accelerate the development of the methanol and ammonia internal combustion engines suitable for ocean-going ships, and launch demonstration projects of low-carbon synthetic fuels such as ammonia and methanol as soon as possible, as well as simultaneously develop corresponding innovative ship types to achieve independent control of the main engine and fuel supply.