Maersk fast-tracks carbon-neutral shipping plans to 2023
Shipping group Maersk is speeding up plans to decarbonise seaborne shipping by putting the world’s first carbon-neutral powered ship into operation.
A.P. Moller-Maersk aims to achieve the move by 2023, seven years ahead of its original plan.
The shipping industry carries around 80 per cent of worldwide trade and accounts for three per cent of global carbon emissions.
Soren Skou, CEO of Maersk, said: “Our ambition to have a carbon neutral fleet by 2050 was a moonshot when we announced it in 2018.
“Today we see it as a challenging, yet achievable target to reach.”
Climate-friendly power
The company is starting with one of its small ships that carries up to 2,000 containers, with the aim of powering it through climate-friendly methanol.
In addition to methanol produced from plant waste, Maersk said it is experimenting with ammonia, normally used for fertilizer, and other alternatives.
Two of the world’s biggest fertiliser producers, CG Industries and Yara, said last month that they were reconfiguring ammonia plants in the United States and Norway to produce clean energy to power ships.