ETH Zurich charts course for emission-free shipping

Electric motors and new fuel cells powered by ammonia or hydrogen offer the best potential for the shipping industry which is seeking to become carbon neutral, a Swiss study has found. Shipping is a major polluter, accounting for 3% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Researchers at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich) studied shipping activities in the North and Baltic Seas on behalf of the Ger¬man ship¬ping com¬pany Reederei Nord to investigate solutions towards creating zero-emissions maritime operations.

Lead author Pet¬rissa Eckle and her ETH Zurich team said zero-emission propul¬sion sys¬tems in the form of elec¬tric mo¬tors, fuel cells or com¬bus¬tion en¬gines powered by am¬mo¬nia held the greatest po¬ten¬tial in the near fu¬ture.

They said the most suit¬able source of en¬ergy de¬pends on the type of ship and the length of the route.

“In the North and Baltic Seas, ships with elec¬tric propul¬sion sys¬tems are already be¬ing used for short dis¬tances, which makes sense,” Eckle said in a statementexternal link.

For long dis¬tances, am¬mo¬nia would be a suit¬able op¬tion but due to its tox¬icity, its use as a fuel is not per¬mit¬ted. Testing will soon begin on the first cargo vessels to investigate the possibilities of liquifying and transporting hy¬dro¬gen.

“The next step is to run pi¬lot pro¬jects to find an¬swers to all the un¬re¬solved ques¬tions. We need ship¬ping com¬pan¬ies to test ves¬sels with emission-free propul¬sion sys¬tems,” Eckle said.

The ETH Zurich report was based on external studies and expert interviews, focusing on the North and Baltic Seas, to investigate routes, the ex¬ist¬ing in¬fra¬struc¬ture, sus¬tain¬ab¬il¬ity and the cost of new fuel op¬tions.

Ship¬ping cur¬rently ac¬counts for around 3% of global CO2 emis¬sions, making it one of the biggest transport pol¬luters along¬side road and air trans¬port. In¬ter¬na¬tional mer¬chant ships and large cargo freight¬ers are re¬spons¬ible for most emis¬sions.

An alliance of 70 companies within the maritime, energy and finance sectors, known as the Getting to Zero Coalition,external link supported by governments and international organisations is seeking to introduce zero-emission vessels by 2030.
Source: Swissinfo