On the crest of a green wave – Decarbonising the maritime sector

As governments worldwide strive to meet their emissions targets, for those of us on dry land, the road ahead to net-zero is, by now, looking well-paved and somewhat familiar. Countries like Portugal, the Netherlands, the UK, and Ireland have all announced plans to end the sale of new combustion-engine cars over the next two decades, and the idea of driving an electric car is no longer a curiosity, but an inevitability.

However, the story is not quite as clear cut when it comes to shipping. One of the things that Covid-19 made painfully apparent was just how heavily we all rely on a precarious system of global supply chains. The shipping sector reached near breaking point during the lockdowns as millions of bored and housebound people sent online sales rocketing, meaning space on cargo ships became ever more precious.

As reliant as we are on these supply chains, there is no escaping the fact that global shipping accounts for some 2.5-3% of total carbon emissions. While this is still relatively small when compared with the likes of steel and cement this figure is widely expected to increase over the coming years and decades, with some more pessimistic forecasts suggesting it could surge to 17% by 2050.

In early 2019, the UK government unveiled its Maritime 2050 plan, which aims to build on Britain’s celebrated seafaring heritage and to “harness the opportunities” brought about by Brexit. While much of the plan is about repositioning the UK economically and geopolitically following its departure from the EU, it also encompasses the sector’s environmental challenges as well as its technological opportunities.

Read more: Shipping sector outlines plans for net-zero, calls for government support

Last month, UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps upped the ante even further when he publicly called for zero-emissions global shipping by 2050 – something which the sector has since agreed to, so long as governments help fund the development of new low-carbon technology.

Despite this, maritime is still considered one of the “harder-to-abate” sectors, so over the summer Industry Europe caught up with Jonathan Taylor, Vice President for Marine at engineering and management consultant specialists Expleo to find out more about the challenges that lie ahead, and what the company is doing to overcome them.

“The UK government has set a target to reduce shipping emissions by around 78% by 2035 as part of the wider net-zero goal. Those goals are ambitious, also very necessary,” he said.

“So, I think the way that we're going to meet them is by the whole industry really pulling together. So that includes shipping, manufacturers, technology companies, academia, governments, everyone really has a role to play and something to offer.”

Taylor is broadly supportive of the UK government’s 2050 goal, which he believes is attainable, though not without its challenges, so long as everyone involved works collaboratively.

Read more: Yara Birkeland: the world's first autonomous, all-electric cargo ship

Given that replacing Expleo’s entire fleet of vessels at the same time is economically and practically unfeasible, retrofitting existing vessels plays a large part in Expleo’s decarbonisation plans. On this subject of retrofitting, Taylor says that there are three major issues.

“We can't replace all of the vessels that we have at once. So, we need to work on phased interim solutions that can help reduce the carbon footprint and we need to create new vessels. Secondly, new fuel sources will mean that the ships will have to continue to be safe and effective, which will mean the adaptation of new standards and new design challenges as we move forward. And then thirdly, probably shipping routes and smaller ports.

“I think a lot of the carbon footprint can be helped by just making shipping smarter. AI and digital tech can help in this space.”

Just as with every industry, digitalisation and emissions reduction go hand in hand. Expleo’s recent collaboration with Bibby Marine and Houlder pulls harder on that thread. The partnership is looking at ways to realise zero-emission new-build and low emission retrofitting options for mid-to-large sized vessels and was recently awarded a share of a £20 million fund from the UK Department for Transport’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition to finance a feasibility study.

“We're using Expleo's AI and system engineering expertise to demonstrate how we can pair a deep neural network with real-time data on some of these ships to optimise the operating profile and choice of fuels to understand how to optimise consumption and deliver carbon and cost savings.

“Taking that a step further, we’re also striving to understand how the neural network can help crews make better choices by analysing real-time bridge data to inform how the ship can be sailed more efficiently, optimising when to use fuel and what fuel to use if there are multiple fuels onboard.”

The idea is to use these multiple fuels – which include electricity, ammonia, hydrogen, methanol, as well as diesel – to create a hybrid-style arrangement that, when managed by AI, can find the optimal way to limit a vessel’s carbon footprint and environmental impact.

Read more: Maersk orders carbon-neutral vessels in decarbonisation push

While this plethora of options is encouraging, Jonathan Taylor warns against complacency and urges the sector to keep one eye on the future for emerging new tech that can bring about the green maritime revolution that the sector so dearly needs.

“These vessels have got 30-year lifespans,” he points out, “Operators won't want to incorporate solutions that become obsolete in five or ten years. So, we've got to be mindful when talking about retrofitting existing vessels or incorporating new technology that it needs to be sustainable.”

Taylor says he is certain that retrofitting can help meet emissions targets and that the rush to design new vessels from the ground up will create new standards for the industry in general.

He also points to fuel supply as being a key factor. “There's no point in developing an optimised pump system for the vessel if the operator can't source the fuel along its operating cycle. So equally as important is how do we produce it, how do we store it and how does it get distributed?”

Taylor says that there is already an appropriate infrastructure of alternative fuels to support the change moving forward, but that net-zero, by definition, requires all aspects of the shipping lifecycle, including manufacture and infrastructure, to also be carbon neutral. Indeed, he believes that maritime’s green revolution could necessitate a complete change in ship design and operating logistics. One change to longer journeys, he said, may be that more fuelling stops are required, such as with electric cars.

Read more: A green future: How can the maritime sector work towards sustainability?

The comparisons with the automotive sector’s roadmap to net-zero do not end there. Taylor says that the maritime sector can take a great deal of inspiration from its land-based counterpart, through alternative fuels, hybrid engines, or hydrogen, for example.

However, the green maritime revolution, he says, must be the result of a collaborative approach across the sector and beyond since there are no quick fixes.

“It's going to be a multifaceted approach. There has to be a comprehensive solution and to get that comprehensive solution, the key is collaboration. We also need to look outside of the maritime industry and bring in some of the best minds and the best talent from elsewhere to get focused on what are these meaningful and ambitious challenges,” he concluded.

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