The Lloyd’s List Podcast: Shipping’s hydrogen future
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CMB’s chief executive Alexander Saverys believes that hydrogen offers shipping’s best bet to reach a zero-carbon future and he is investing heavily to that end. But even he concedes that things are moving too slowly, and greater collaboration and partnerships will be required before the technological challenges can be overcome. He joins Lloyd’s List editor Richard Meade on this week’s podcast to discuss the industry’s green investment conundrum and why a collective effort is going to be required to hit the industry’s 2050 emissions goals
TO say the shipping industry has a technology challenge ahead of it is something of an understatement.
The development of low- and zero-carbon shipping technology must now be considered an immediate industry priority if the International Maritime Organization’s greenhouse gas targets are to be met by 2050.
And yet there is worryingly little evidence that shipping companies are putting down hard cash to fuel the research required to drive global maritime trade into the next century.
One of the few genuine pioneers in this regard is the Belgium-based shipowner CMB, which has been quietly developing hydrogen-fuelled engines for some time.
Last week it unveiled the details of what it has been working on, and it is fair to say that its investment represents a pretty significant bet that hydrogen-powered engines will eventually displace traditional fuels altogether.
This week CMB’s chief executive Alexander Saverys joins the Lloyd’s List Podcast to discuss why he is so bullish on hydrogen when so many of his peers are still focused on liquefied natural gas, slow steaming and existing technology.
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