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Watch More VideosOver 10 billion tons of goods are transported by ship each year. About 90% of the world's goods are transported by sea, with over 70% as containerized cargo. Such is the dominance of shipping for commercial and industrial logistics.
Shipping contributes about 3% of total CO2 emissions and there is a clear realization among all the industry players that they need to bring down these emissions significantly within a reasonable time period.
Many avenues are available for shipping decarbonization, with some of them (like LNG powered ships) already commercialized. Increasing the energy efficiency of the ship’s engines and powertrain could provide reasonable CO2 emissions reductions. Significant efforts and investments can be expected for these two decarbonization opportunities.
Running ships on biofuels (bio-methanol or biodiesel) is another opportunity, though these efforts are only in pilot stages as of 2021. Given that a large ship could carry a massive 3 million gallons of fuel (about 9000 tons), use of biofuels for shipping could pose challenges in terms of availability of large volumes of biofuels. Electrification of shipping will face challenges similar to the one that the aviation sector faces - that of low battery energy density.
For the 2020-2030 period, some of the impactful innovations in this sector will be around route planning & fleet optimization, use of biofuels, wind powered ships, and use of digital technologies for monitoring and optimizing fuel consumption.
Shipping contributes about 3% of total CO2 emissions, almost 1 billion tons per annum.
The marine fishing sector (industrial and small scale) accounts for an estimated 215 million tons of CO2 emissions per year.
The rest of marine transport (boating, cruise, super yachts) together could contribute 75-100 million tons of CO2 per annum. Among these, cruise ships about 20 million tons per annum, and a not insignificant amount could come from superyachts - some estimates suggest one superyacht alone could emit upto 6000 tons of CO2 per year depending on use, and there are about 8000 superyachts in the world.
bp and Maersk Tankers have completed trials using biofuel-blended marine fuel in product tankers, demonstrating that sustainable biofuels can be used as a marine ‘drop-in fuel’ to help reduce carbon emissions in shipping.
French company Airseas has installed its first half-size automated Seawing kite to a cargo ship chartered by Airbus, and will commence six months of trials in January.
Alfa Laval offers a range of oil-fired and oil and exhaust gas-fired boilers for ships. The company’s Aalborg OL large-capacity boiler is being readied for any marine fuel under discussion, including LNG and methanol.
Tata Steel has deployed a ship powered by biofuel. The bulk carrier operated by Tata NYK Shipping Pte. Ltd., has successfully completed trial use of biofuel to transport cargo provided by Tata Steel.
This innovative system for vessel propulsion uses wing sails that have more in common with modern planes than traditional sailing ships. Fully applied it can reduce emissions by 90% on the largest ocean-going vessels.
As the marine industry persues decarbonisation and transitions to new fuels, a wide range of technologies will be needed to boost energy efficiency and maintain the energy balance on board.
This has set the stage for the development of technology and systems to capture CO2 from the exhaust of marine equipment and ships, the industry's technological advancements still have a long way to go.
A research team offers a practical way to make ships CO2 neutral -- or even CO2 negative -- with CO2-capturing solid oxide fuel cells. After 'burning' traditional carbon-based fuels, the fuel cell generates concentrated CO2 that can be stored on-board the ship. From there, the CO2 can either be sequestered or recycled into a renewable hydrocarbon fuel.
Biofuels based on substances like agricultural biomass and food waste as the short-term alternative to fossil fuels for naval vessels. Isotta Fraschini Motori, which aims to develop a marine engine that can use either traditional fuel, liquid natural gas, ammonia, hydrogen or biofuel.
Alpha Biofuels supplies biodiesel, converted from cooking oil collected from food manufacturers, food and beverages businesses and households around Singapore.
Maersk launched a digital dashboard that will enable its larger customers to track their carbon footprint across their entire supply chain and show where they can take steps to lower emissions.
Alfa Laval will soon start testing two new types of marine fuels - biofuels made from waste and methanol at its test and training centre in Denmark.
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India's Climate Startups Listed by Decarbonization Avenues
Renewable Energy - Utility Scale Solar | Distributed Solar | Solar Thermal | Wind Power | Biomass heating and power | Biofuels | Hydro Power | Geothermal Energy
Energy Efficiency - Energy Efficient Buildings | Industrial Waste Heat Recovery | Low Carbon Thermal Power | Energy Efficient Industrial Equipment | Smart Grids | Heat Pumps | Digital for Decarbonization
Energy Storage - Battery Storage | Thermal & Mechanical Storage | Green Hydrogen
Agriculture & Food - Sustainable Forestry | Regenerative Agriculture | Smart Farming | Low Carbon Food | Agro Waste Management
Materials - Bio-based Materials | Advanced Materials | Product Use Efficiency | Industrial Resource Efficiency
Waste Management - Reducing Food Waste | Solid Waste Management
Water - Water Use Efficiency
Decarbonizing Industries - Low Carbon Metals | Low Carbon Chemicals & Fertilizers | Low Carbon Construction Materials | Low Carbon Textiles & Fashion | Decarbonizing Oil & Gas Sector | Corporate Carbon Management
Low Carbon Mobility - Electric Mobility | Low Carbon Trucking | Low Carbon Marine Transport | Low Carbon Aviation | Low Carbon ICE Vehicles | Mass Transit
GHG Management - CO2 Capture & Storage | C2V - CO2 to Value | Reducing Emissions from Livestock | Reducing Non-CO2 Industrial & Agricultural Emissions | Managing Large Carbon Sinks
Others - Low Carbon Lifestyles | Multi-stakeholder Collaboration | Moonshots