A green future: How can the maritime sector work towards sustainability?
The UK government is taking steps to reach its target goal of net-zero, with several roadmaps being created to guide the country towards a cleaner, greener future, including Maritime 2050 and the Ten Point Plan. After the ‘Build Back Better World’ initiative was created at the recent G7 Summit, it’s clear that we can do more to tackle carbon emissions across all industries – starting with transport.
The maritime sector has played a critical role in the development of the UK, making us one of the leading maritime nations globally. With 90% of world trade transported by sea contributing to its status as one of the world’s largest producers of greenhouse gases, the shipping industry will play a leading role in the fight against climate change.
Decarbonising the shipping industry over the next 30 years is an ambitious target. To ensure we can meet the government’s Maritime 2050 objectives, we will need to tackle many challenges including ship design, vessel operational profiles and port infrastructure along all traditional shipping routes.
Tackling the challenges
The Maritime 2050 initiative has set out targets that will address clean maritime growth, strengthen the UK’s reputation for innovation, and maximise the value of new maritime technologies. Decarbonisation technology is advancing at a phenomenal rate and continues to adapt to suit a more connected world; it will change how the maritime sector operates, leading to better performance, efficiency gains and cost savings.
That said, commercialisation needs to be made more efficient if the industry stands any chance of meeting the decarbonisation targets. To achieve the Maritime 2050 ambitions, the industry needs to take a number of actions. Retrofitting existing vessels to meet the needs for carbon-neutral fuel sources and designing ships from the ground up to create new sustainability standards for the industry will both be priorities.
Additionally, harnessing new technologies to make ships and ports smarter will become a focus. Combined with rethinking shipping operations and routes, this will ensure ships can provide the right level of service at the right price for both businesses and consumers.
Improved energy efficiency on vessels
Green engineering will be fundamental to achieving the government’s carbon ambitions. Efficient ship design and provisioning have quickly risen up the agenda alongside the need to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gases (GHG). Alternative fuels and the subsequent power and propulsion systems selected will shape how we design and build ships, driven primarily by their operational profile and lifecycle.
At Expleo, we are currently exploring several different technologies, including retrofitting vessels to reduce as far as practicable the use of traditional diesel engines with greener power solutions. This involves investigating alternative fuel sources and designing new ways to store energy to ensure that ships can perform as effectively as they have been – at a fraction of the GHG emissions of fossil fuels.
Expleo's marine engineers are developing artificial intelligence solutions to deliver improved energy efficiency on vessels. These Deep Learning Neural Networks are designed to provide an extra ‘Mind’ on the bridge to assist the crew. With 55,000 ships worldwide that could benefit from this technology, the impact on GHG could prove significant.
Fossil fuel isn’t just a source of carbon emissions – it is over 60% of the lifetime cost of a vessel. By saving on fuel, that capital can be used to invest in newer technology such as hydrogen power, and that extra ‘Mind’ can be put to good use deciding when it’s best to use or charge batteries, utilise more hydrogen power or fall back to diesel generators. New sources of power such as hydrogen and methanol all require larger storage space due to their lower power density so efficient use of fuel becomes even more important.
Our AI solution aims to provide a complete decision support system that monitors in real-time ship state and manages the energy to ensure safe voyage completion and minimise emissions.
The future
It truly is an exciting time for individuals, organisations, academia and government to come together and solve a challenge that will positively impact all our lives for generations to come.
New disruptive technologies will emerge in the areas of e-fuels, AI and digitisation that will continue to change the maritime sector for the better. As the government’s targets require such a large scope of transformation, the marine industry needs to work together to share the right skills and best ideas to solve the challenges ahead.
Collaboration is critical for the maritime sector. It will ensure that the industry invests in solutions that will not only solve today’s issues but set us up for a greener tomorrow too. For consultants involved in the designing of large-scale energy transformation projects, the future is not only looking green – it’s looking bright, and we welcome the challenge ahead.
We have seen over the last 18 months with the creation and deployment of Covid vaccines, that when the conditions are right and we are seeking to impact the lives of many, years of activity can be compressed into months We are confident that with increased collaboration our industry shall have all the passion, creative engineering and bold decision making needed to overcome the challenges that lay ahead and accelerate the pace of decarbonisation.
- The author, Jonathan Taylor, is VP of Marine at Expleo.
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