Shipping accounts for 90 percent of the transported goods around the world and 3 percent of total global CO2 emissions. That number is set to rise to 15 percent by 2050 if left unchecked. The good news is that number is not being left unchecked by the world’s largest shipping company: Maersk. The shipping giant, which was the first to commit to decarbonize in line with the UN’s carbon reduction goals, is inching closer to meeting its goal of going carbon neutral by 2050 with a pilot of a biofuels-powered vessel. Teaming up with Shell and other members of the Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition, Maersk tested a fuel blend of 20 percent biofuel, produced from waste cooking oil, in one of its largest vessels on an expedition from Rotterdam to Shanghai. Touted as the “world’s first at this scale,” Maersk reports that the 25,000-nautical-mile journey will save 1,500 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Greener options for ships to run on exist such as batteries and hydrogen, but the costs are still so high that it’s not entirely feasible. Until these technologies become a more feasible option, biofuels such as the one Maersk is testing can help reduce shipping’s carbon footprint.
The world’s biggest shipping company is testing greener fuels
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