Maersk orders largest, most efficient ships ever is the title of the release from one of the world’s biggest marine shipping concerns. Given that 90% of the world’s international trade travels by ship, the importance of how we build, power, and even dispose of these critical components of commerce is enormous. These new ships are fuel efficient, sized very, very big to provide economies of scale and they’re even recyclable.
I’ve written before that, like aviation, seaborne shipping accounts for a relatively small percentage of GHG, but it is growing. Making Ships Green, in Port and at Sea, is an article from the NYT worth reading. There are other concerns. Just as I found in writing my article on airports, ships, like planes, are hooking up to a local electricity supply when they’re in port in order to save power and reduce emissions. In Sweden, where acid rain continues to be a big concern, this approach eliminates the particularly noxious pollutants from marine bunker fuel. They’re hooking up in Belgium, LA and Long Beach too. But acid rain is not the only consideration. The Times article reports: “James J. Corbett, an associate professor of marine policy at the University of Delaware, is the co-author of a study published in December that attributed 60,000 cardiopulmonary and lung cancer deaths each year globally to shipping emissions and forecast an increase to nearly 85,000 deaths by 2012 under current trends.” See also this report, “Green Harbours,” from the Hong Kong nonprofit Civic Exchange. (See also More Cool Stuff from me with the picture of the freighter with the kite for supplementary power.)
Here’s a story, World Ports Commit to Reduce Emissions, and the World Ports Climate Initiative. In 2009, I attended an impressive World Maritime Day event in New York City that was cosponsored by the International Maritime Organization and the US Coast Guard. The theme in 2009 was Climate Change. Here is an informative video from the IMO.
Suffice it to say, there’s a tremendous amount of progress being made on the high seas and in ports around the world.
