Decarbonizing maritime transport: How will the shipping industry do it?

Have you ever wondered how the maritime shipping industry is adapting to the global trend to decarbonize key sectors of our economy?

I asked myself that question after reading “Airlines Want to Make Flight More Sustainable. How Will They Do It?” In this three-part feature, C&EN reporter Leigh Krietsch Boerner explores the technologies airlines are hoping to deploy to help them reduce their emissions and achieve their sustainability goals.

I promised myself that I’d look into it when I had more time. The opportunity presented itself on Oct. 13, when Economist Impact, a part of the Economist Group, hosted a panel discussion titled “Decarbonising Maritime Transport” as part of its World Ocean Initiative.

The aviation industry is huge, but so is shipping. And it is certainly as vital to the growth of the global economy. Martin Koehring, head of the World Ocean Initiative and the panel’s moderator, noted that “90% of all [globally] traded goods are passed through the shipping supply chain.” Shipping is a major contributor to climate change and air pollution, producing “around 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions,” he said. The industry recognizes this, Koehring added, pointing out that regulatory bodies such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) have set goals—for example, to cut shipping emissions 40% by 2030 from 2008 levels.

Koehring also said that industry leaders have committed to finding a path to zero-carbon shipping and are encouraging short- as well as long-term action.

One such leader is Jeremy Nixon, CEO of Ocean Network Express, a Singapore-based container shipping company. Nixon explained that moving to decarbonization is a huge challenge for an industry with 60,000 oceangoing vessels in operation. He supports IMO’s targets, which also include halving greenhouse gas emissions and reducing carbon intensity by 70% from 2008 levels by 2050.

Nixon explained that the IMO is also establishing a regulatory framework that will include requirements coming into force in 2023 that ships be “graded and marked” on their carbon efficiency. In addition, companies will be penalized if they don’t achieve certain targets.

Nixon also spoke about the need to develop alternative fuels, which “needs to be done at scale so shipping gets enough green fuel.” Many types of fuel are being considered—biofuels, hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, and more—but the industry is a long way away from having enough to operate its global fleet, Nixon said.

Sustainable energy entrepreneur Dirk Kronemeijer admitted to being puzzled by the shipping industry’s lack of innovation in this area. His background is in the aviation industry, and Kronemeijer sees the potential of biofuels in particular as a way to accelerate decarbonization in that industry and now in maritime transport. He explained that biofuel is the only alternative fuel that can be used today and does not require infrastructure or technology changes on the vessels. “By 2050, I also expect hydrogen and methanol to be playing an important role,” Kronemeijer said, but “estimates suggest that biofuels will be around 25% of fuels used for shipping.” Biofuels will certainly be an important piece within the decarbonization puzzle. One of many innovations to come.

The forthcoming ACS Discovery Report that C&EN will publish on Dec. 6 will focus on decarbonizing our economy.

Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS.