Over 50,000 ships ply the world’s oceans to carry an estimated 90 per cent of everything we buy, sell and consume. And yet shipping remains a ‘hidden’ polluter – the only sector of the European economy not covered by the EU’s existing emissions reduction target, which is surprising given emissions from international maritime transport have grown by 70% since 1990.
There is little doubt the Paris climate agreement’s target of limiting global warming by less than 2°C will be near impossible without curbing shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions – not least because a recent European Parliament study found that shipping will be responsible for 17% of total emissions in 2050 if left unregulated.
A Dutch shipbuilding company may have part of the solution with its new battery-powered container ships. The barges, which can be operated autonomously, will take around 23,000 trucks off the roads when they go into service on three routes later this year.
Port-Liner is developing the electric barges in the Netherlands with €7 million in EU subsidies and additional support from the ports of Antwerp, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The power for the batteries is from sustainable sources – effectively making the barges emissions-free after manufacture.
The first five barges will be 52 metres long and 6.7 metres wide, and are designed to fit under bridges.
Your journey, our world
The ETA has been voted the most ethical insurance company in Britain for the second year running by the Good Shopping Guide.
The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Twenty seven years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance, travel insurance breakdown cover and home insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all it does.
Every time you buy a policy from us you help fund our campaigns to promote sustainable transport.
Donald Gilchrist
Hear in the UK we have very little regard for the emitions from our inland waterways. very few new narrow boats are built with electric or hybred engines, infact there seems to be a thing for old [1930’s 1940’s] engines that cannot be described as green. My narrow boat is being converted to electric drive, which has got a good history on our canals but something still considered a bit odd hear in the UK.
Teresa Mitchell
Let’s hope it catches on here in the UK then.