Container ships have a devastating carbon footprint – and have no future in this format. But Japan’s shipowners are working on a green revolution, Handelsblatt points out.
The climate-friendly cargo ship of the future is behind glass in Japan. The hull of the improved model in the lobby of major shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) in Tokyo looks like a black submarine. Twelve masts with stiff sails are raised on deck to propel the ship. MOL named the concept “Wind Hunter”.
The company wants to be one of the first shipowners to decarbonize its fleet, that is, switch from heavy oil to carbon-free propulsion. Shipowners worldwide will need to invest up to $1.5 trillion in new ships over the next 30 years to decarbonize maritime transport. Today’s decisions set the course for 2050, as shipowners’ ships have a lifespan of 15 to 20 years.
Toshiaki Tanaka, Chief Environment and Sustainability Officer, is responsible for MOL’s transformation towards carbon-free ocean shipping. MOL plans to invest 200 billion yen (about 1.4 billion euros) in the development of zero-emission ships by 2024. The first emission-neutral ships are due to enter service as early as 2027 or 2028, and MOL wants to reduce emissions per nautical mile by 45% by 2035 and zero by 2050.
More and more brands, such as Nike and Amazon, wanted to quickly become carbon neutral and expected climate-friendly transport, Tanaka explains. “If we want to beat international competition, we have to do it fast.”
Danish shipping company Maersk already uses biomethanol ships. The fuel is considered climate neutral because it is produced from existing biomass. Other shipowners are therefore under pressure to rid shipping of its image as a major polluter.
Electric motors are not an option for large ships
So far, ships worldwide emit about 940 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, almost 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. However, replacing fossil fuels in ships is much more difficult than in cars or trucks.
The resistance of water is much greater than that of air. Therefore, more power must be applied to produce thrust. This requires huge engines that cannot simply be replaced by electric units. Therefore, new fuels are needed – and especially green energy to produce them.
In 2021, the major bank ING estimated that China, Japan and Korea alone would need to invest about $12.4 trillion in zero-emission power plants by 2050 to, among other things, get rid of carbon globally their logistics with synthetic fuels. Of the investments, the largest share should be allocated to shipping, followed by rail and air transport.
A first step towards more climate-friendly shipping is cargo ships powered by liquefied gas. Ships with such a propulsion system emit a quarter less carbon dioxide than those powered by heavy oil.
MOL wants to have a total of 90 LPG ships at sea by 2030. Since natural gas is a fossil fuel, it is only considered a transitional solution until other climate-neutral fuels are available in sufficient quantities.
Experts such as Stian Erik Sollied, head of Japan at the Norwegian ship classification organization DNV, expect that in the future different fuels will be used in parallel. In addition to biomass-derived fuels, such as those used by Maersk, synthetic fuels, i.e. artificially produced with renewable energy sources, are seen as promising.
Japan’s government, shipowners and shipyards rely on ammonia, a combustible compound of nitrogen and hydrogen. If hydrogen is produced with renewable energy sources, ammonia is climate neutral. It also has a fairly high energy density and is therefore also considered a fuel for power plants in Japan. However, ammonia is toxic and stinks.
Hydrogen is another energy storage medium that Japan is currently promoting for ships. Only the energy density is low, so the reservoirs are larger than the alternatives.
Another method is to decarbonize the exhaust gases of today’s ships that still burn heavy oil. The shipbuilding division of Japanese heavy industry group Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has developed a system that removes carbon dioxide from ship exhaust. The extracted gas can then be collected in a reservoir and recycled back into the earth for other industrial processes.
No one knows which propulsion system will prevail
Electric propulsion systems are more likely to be developed for lighter vessels such as ferries, pleasure boats and yachts that do not travel long distances between battery charges.
The problem: so far, no one knows which of the new propulsion systems will prevail and to what extent — and whether the growth of supply chains will be able to keep up with demand for zero-emission alternatives in other sectors as well.
Shunsuke Miyaoka, in charge of inland and coastal shipping at Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT), says: “It has not yet been proven internationally that we will have enough synthetic methane, for example, to meet the demand.” Methane is also a potential synthetic fuel.
Source: Capital
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