Maersk to End Use of Fossil Fuels by 2050

[Ben]

They actually say both "end fossil fuel use" and be "net carbon neutral" which can mean different things. Carbon neutral can mean they are using alternative fuel elsewhere in their infrastructure to cancel out fossil fuel use in the ships.

But lets take it at face value. How? That's a LOT of fuel to replace. Biodiesel for all those ships would impact food production somewhere in the world. Plus how will you guarantee biodiesel availability in all the various ports around the world?

The only really viable alternative in the next 20-30 years would be nuclear. It would probably take them that long just to get all the permits. Then how would you secure nuclear fuel in all those commercial ships that visit sketchy parts of the world? I'm not sure if any country in the world would actually allow nuclear power on a "mobile" commercial level like that. What other fuels could possibly be adapted in that timeframe in the quantities needed to reliably power those ginormous powerplants?

https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2018/12/05/worlds-largest-shipping-firm-pledges-to-reduce-net-carbon-emissions-to-zero-by-2050/

[230RN]

....

[charby]

Go team nuclear!

[Hawkmoon]

Maybe they can harness large teams of dolphins to tow the ships ...

Maersk is aiming to meet its target without buying carbon offsets. “If you buy offsets, you are basically delaying the pain. What you are doing is buying yourself an excuse and hoping that the money you pay goes to good uses, but you are not tackling the issue at its core,” Mr Toft said.

Sounds good, but all they are announcing is a pie-in-the-sky goal.

[MechAg94]

Because I have a personal commitment to combating climate change, I pledge to cut my food and beverage intake to zero by 2080.

[MechAg94]

They likely mean a net zero emissions value.  I assume they will come up with some crazy carbon accounting that lets them claim victory without having to actually accomplish anything.

[sumpnz]

Return of sailing?

[Hawkmoon]

They likely mean a net zero emissions value.  I assume they will come up with some crazy carbon accounting that lets them claim victory without having to actually accomplish anything.

That's not what they seem to be saying.

Maersk is aiming to meet its target without buying carbon offsets. “If you buy offsets, you are basically delaying the pain. What you are doing is buying yourself an excuse and hoping that the money you pay goes to good uses, but you are not tackling the issue at its core,” Mr Toft said.

[KD5NRH]

They gave themselves a 30 year deadline. Unless commercial nuclear becomes more viable by then, they'll just extend the deadline until it does.

[RocketMan]

Nuke powered cargo ships have been done before.  Granted it was a one-off government funded demonstrator.  I toured this one as a kid living in Portland, OR.

[charby]

Cargo blimps?

[MikeB]

Are they thinking electric with solar and wind generators maybe? I think that’s probably unrealistic at this time. Also battery weight would seriously affect the amount of cargo they could carry. Maybe it could substitute for some ballast though.

[dogmush]

Are they thinking electric with solar and wind generators maybe? I think that’s probably unrealistic at this time. Also battery weight would seriously affect the amount of cargo they could carry. Maybe it could substitute for some ballast though.

Ballast is adjustable.  You tweak it with every load.  That's why you use cheap things you can throw overboard. (water or rocks)

[230RN]

            

(^Note relative wind direction indicated by  pennant.)



Image credits in Properties

[lupinus]

Fuel cells perhaps? Using something direct would avoid a need to carry blargh and heavy battery cells.

Moving through the ocean, it's not like they'd have an issue using salt water for the fuel cells.

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[230RN]

^What are you going to  use for fuel in your fuel cells?

Whatever amount of energy-per-time it takes to move a loaded cargo ship through the water with conventional fuels, it will take the same amount of energy-per-time with fuel cells.

I had read somewhere that someone's planning (or has already done it) to use high-flying kites to assist in moving ships along.  Now that's (more or less) "free" energy-per-time.  Of course, that's just sailing with unconventional sails.

Terry

NOTE: There are salt water batteries, and in fact that was one way to power military torpedoes.  But there's still consumption of raw materials... which took energy to refine and process.  Example: some navigational buoys are run with salt water batteries, where the anodes are discarded Volkswagen magnesium engine blocks.  Imagine the energy investment in mining, transporting, refining, and fashioning those engine blocks.

TANSTAAFL

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch." (Heinlein, I believe.)

That's one of the biggest pitfalls in bright ideas to save energy: the fact that the infra-processing takes energy, too, although that can sometimes be amortized out.  But let's face it, even the headlights in your car don't light up the road for free.

[charby]

Sail was used for how many centuries before external or internal combustion? So what if we don't get fresh fruit from Vietnam anymore?

[Ben]

Sail was used for how many centuries before external or internal combustion? So what if we don't get fresh fruit from Vietnam anymore?

The problem we would have, at least in the shorter term, is similar to the "terrorist attack on a port" scenario. Delays of shipped goods in Long Beach would have empty store shelves in Denver in very little time. We get an inordinate amount of goods in from other countries using an extremely complex multiple-mode transportation system. It doesn't take much to create the butterfly/hurricane effect.

Certainly that could be addressed with very long term planing, but we don't seem to be good at that these days.

[charby]

The problem we would have, at least in the shorter term, is similar to the "terrorist attack on a port" scenario. Delays of shipped goods in Long Beach would have empty store shelves in Denver in very little time. We get an inordinate amount of goods in from other countries using an extremely complex multiple-mode transportation system. It doesn't take much to create the butterfly/hurricane effect.

Certainly that could be addressed with very long term planing, but we don't seem to be good at that these days.

You could bring regional/local warehouses and larger retail storerooms back.

[Hawkmoon]

You could bring regional/local warehouses and larger retail storerooms back.

Or, heck -- we could start making stuff in the U.S. again.

Nah. It'd never work.

[Ron]

Sail was used for how many centuries before external or internal combustion?

Wind it is

https://www.apnews.com/6a1d4a285e8b404582ae19e0e3f3c0c4

[Mannlicher]

Nothing more than a dream.   

[JN01]

Kill two birds with one stone- refugees with oars.

[dogmush]

Wind it is

https://www.apnews.com/6a1d4a285e8b404582ae19e0e3f3c0c4

Just FTR:  Those Rotor Sails Maersk is playing with are a Sail Assist system.  They are expected to reduce fuel consumption by 7=10%, and the last I saw on real numbers in an industry article it was more like 4%-5% real world.

[Ron]

Standard propulsion supplemented by Flettnor rotors.

https://infogalactic.com/info/Flettner_rotor