Greener shipping, cleaner goods

In this week’s Net Hero Podcast, Sumit spoke to Roger Holm, Executive Vice President at marine solutions company, Wärtsilä on how they’re trying to clean up the world’s shipping lanes

We need to future-proof the shipping industry, said Roger Holm President Marine & Executive Vice President of Wärtsilä.

Speaking on the podcast, he said: ‘Global trade is dominated by shipping.

‘More that 80 percent of global trade is handled through ships. We have around 100,000 ships around the world that transport everything from cargo to passenger travel.

‘So it really is the lifeline of global trade and it impacts all businesses around the world.

‘But this also makes it one of hardest industries to decarbonise. The reason why you can’t electrify shipping like you can do with so many other industries, is because of the weight of the batteries and the space you would need.’

The shipping industry is concerned about its footprint and The International Maritime Organization (IMO) decided last July to commit the global shipping sector to net zero by 2050.

‘We currently use both diesel and liquified natural gas (LNG). LNG is gaining a lot of traction and it can help us decarbonise.

‘Recently, we have also gone from a single-fuel environment to a multi-fuel environment. Green methanol, for example, which is a carbon neutral fuel has been taken up quite a lot in the last year.

‘The engine technology that we use is actually very good because it gives us flexibility. You can invest in a ship now that runs on LNG today and then when green fuels become widely available, you can convert the engine to run on green methanol or green ammonia, for example.

‘So it gives you the flexibility to change the ship during the lifetime of the vessel, which is necessary for us to get to net zero by 2050.’

Watch the full episode below and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter.