Ships account for almost 90 percent of global trade and nearly 11 billion tons of stuff per year.
Big ships approximately consume 110 tons of fuel oil per day and may take few weeks to traverse oceans. As per estimates its shipping that accounts for nearly 3 to 4 percent of manmade carbon emissions. Nearly 47,000 big ships (PDF) handle the bulk of this cargo the world consumes.
Shipping companies are working of lot of ways to improve their efficiency and bring down pollution.
“Freight is becoming more efficient by the day,” Giuliano said. “And in the short term, efficiency gains are going to be the biggest contribution to greenhouse gas reductions.”
Reasons For Energy Efficiency:
- Newer bigger ships carry more without a proportional increase in fuel use
- Ports automation and even robotization helps
- Ships can plug into the ports where they dock, tapping into local power
- Automated cranes quicken the unloading and reloading process thereby reducing ship’s port time
- Logistics hubs, massive warehouses, freight on rail, efficient routing etc., contributed to Energy Efficiency
To sum up more technological innovation makes shipping more energy efficient and less polluting.
“I don’t see less transportation,” Ashar, an emeritus research professor said. “I see more transportation, but less energy consumption for that transportation.”
Source: GreenBiz
