Sailing at a clip
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- Category: General
- Published on Tuesday, 06 May 2014 09:10
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Shipping is another important, yet polluting, component of freight transportation, accounting for 3% of the world's greenhouse gases, according to the European Commission.
That's around a billion tonnes of emissions a year, twice the carbon footprint of aviation.
Maersk Line, the largest container shipping company in the world, has recently launched its Triple E ship as an answer to the sustainability challenge.
It claims the vessel is 50% more energy efficient than the average container ship plying the waters between Asia and Europe.
Ironically, the Triple E carries 16% more cargo than the firm's next most fuel-efficient ship, but its engines are 20% smaller, meaning a slower, but more fuel-efficient journey.
A waste-heat recovery system transforms hot exhaust gas from the engine into extra energy for propulsion, too.
While some firms, like B9 Shipping and Cargill, have been experimenting with sails attached to the decks of cargo ships to make the most of following winds, Jacob Sterling, head of sustainability at Maersk, says these "won't be a solution for container shipping in the foreseeable future - among other things because we need the deck space to stack containers."
However, Norwegian designer Terje Lade reckons he may have found a way around that problem.
His Vindskip vessel, which is being developed by his firm Lade AS, could be 60% more fuel efficient than traditional ships, thanks to a radical design quirk - a hull shaped like a "symmetrical air foil".
The ship would be part-propelled by wind, backed up by liquefied natural gas-powered engines. On-board computers would calculate the ship's optimal route based on weather data, too.
"By developing navigation algorithms which can give you the optimum wind angle for maximum effect of the design, you can find the best route across the ocean, either most economically or by estimated time of arrival," he says.
The firm believes the ship could be ready for launch by 2018.
Cost benefit analysis
While environmentalists may welcome visionary new designs, some are sceptical about the prohibitive cost of such state-of-the-art technologies.
Dr Andrew Traill of Green Freight Europe, a non-governmental organisation, warns that "one or two ships might be built perhaps, but very often these innovative designs seldom get adopted on any large scale".
But he accepts that the biggest incentive for any logistics firm to take up energy-saving technology is commercial - customers want cheaper deliveries.
For Maersk Line, fuel makes up about 20% of the firm's total costs, so the logic behind investment in green technology is compelling.
"Green technologies come with an upfront investment, but very often also with a very strong payback," says Mr Sterling.
"Last year, we saved $764m through energy efficiency improvements, roughly half our 2013 profit of $1.5bn," he said.
That level of saving should persuade any transport business to go green.