Towards zero emission shipping

Japan is also looking at other possibilities to reach the aim of zero emission shipping by 2050:

1 Like

NKK participate in group study towards zero emission shipping:
https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/classnk-participates-in-a-working-group-for-zero-emission-alternative-fuels/

Meanwhile LNG will be a suitable fuel to meet 2020 requirements and 2030 target:
https://worldmaritimenews.com/archives/281143/k-line-gets-aip-for-lng-fuelled-ore-carrier-concept-design/

Reviving this old thread to bring some good news for the environment:


NOTE: From 2030 only zero emission ships to be added to the Norwegian fleet. That is only 10 years from now.

Norwegian Shipowner’s Association is not the only one working on decarbonising shipping:

How long is the payback of the carbon footprint from building the ship when it operates as ‘zero emissions’

cant wait for the antifoul that only gets painted on once and has zero emissions

Less than the one with more than ‘zero emissions’.

1 Like

Things are progressing on the renewable sectore:


Despite all negative comments.

Maybe I’ll be proven wrong and battery technology will advance to where a battery powered ship can at least make the shortest ocean crossings??

Japan is looking to develop electric propulsion for coastal shipping>

great news, they will be buying more gas and coal from Australia or maybe uranium?

Japans is also joining the race towards more renewable energy.
Offshore wind power among them:


By the time a large fleet of electric powered coaster are in operation, they may have to look out for hundreds of wind mills in Japanese coastal waters.

Work is in progress to get the legal framework and approval procedure in place:

PS> Maybe time for Australia to look for new sources of income?

I guess the coking coal to make all that steel will keep it going for a while?
I have a buddy in that industry and its booming at the moment.

If there is a break through in nuclear waste some of these free energy systems might not look so good?

Maybe you should warn your buddy that “at the moment” does not say much about the future.
When the market dries up it is wise to have an alternative ready.

Uh yeah, that would really make folks want to shun largely automated, unattended free fuel power generation systems in favor of labor intensive, highly skilled labor at that, power generation that requires dangerous fuel be mined, processed and disposed of while increasing cancer risks to the workforce and possibly the public while risking devastating community impacts in the event of natural disasters or human error. Yup, surprised anyone is even bothering with these new dangled gadgets alright…

1 Like

To meet the energy demands of massive international cargo ships, which carry tens of thousands of tons of cargo and use dozens of gigawatts of energy we’re going to need more advanced batteries. Building battery-powered ships comes with two big problems. The first is that conventional lithium-ion batteries pose safety risks, because they use liquid electrolytes to carry lithium ions between the electrodes. If the components in a battery degrade, this can cause the cell to rapidly heat up and fail, a process known as thermal runaway. The battery’s heat can lead to a cascade of failures in nearby batteries. If these batteries release their chemicals as they fail, all it takes is one battery to catch on fire and cause a large explosion.

We are FAR away from talking about large ships crossing oceans on electric power.
At the moment it is inland, coastal and short sea shipping that is looked at for both fully electric propulsion and autonomy.

Hydrogen powered fuel cells as power source MAY make it feasible for large ships to get away from combustion engines and fossil fuel in the future, but even that is a bit out in the future.

But we have to start somewhere and coastal trade is a good start.

I think on a much smaller scale the batteries overheating were related perhaps to the dive boat incident on the west coast a little while back with great loss of life. Poor escape methods didn’t help either.

so there is a replacement for steel?

Yes there is. For smaller vessels Aluminum or composite material can be used to build the hull.
You can also make steel using electric arch ovens. (It is already used in places with cheap electric power from renewable sources)

Besides, it is a question of emission during operation, not to make the material the vessels are constructed from.

Do you want to return to “wooden ships and men of steel” and heavy canvas sail for propulsion.
NO, I forgot; you want to go back to coal fired steamships to optimize emission, since all this “man made global warming” BS is just a communist invention, or a hoax created by tree huggers.

Of course most hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels. . . .

Bug can you please please go and learn how steel is made and then find out how composites are made and finally aluminium, then you might get an understanding of what coking coal is hopefully…
even good old ally uses it
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Aluminum.html
“The other major ingredient used in the smelting operation is carbon. Carbon electrodes transmit the electric current through the electrolyte. During the smelting operation, some of the carbon is consumed as it combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. In fact, about half a pound (0.2 kg) of carbon is used for every pound (2.2 kg) of aluminum produced. Some of the carbon used in aluminum smelting is a byproduct of oil refining; additional carbon is obtained from coal”

If there are NO coal fired powerplants on the planet we will still be mining coal…do you get it?

Wood could well be the only carbon neutral resource to build something with, subject to to the glues used?
Growing, felling, replanting absorbs carbon