Solar-powered car carrier to clean up 'dirty' shipping
The ship uses photovoltaic solar panels to generate power during the seagoing part of its voyage
There’s good news for the environment this week. A trio of Japanese companies announced plans to make the auto industry cleaner, not by addressing the car-produced pollution, but through the high-tech refits of their leviathan transport ships.
The Hybrid Car Carrier project led by Sanyo, Mitsubishi and shipper Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), aims by 2012 to create a car container ship that relies on solar power for part of its journey.
In order to reduce CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, the group is working on a hybrid solar/diesel ship that uses photovoltaic solar panels laid out on deck to generate power during part of its voyage.
That power will be stored in massive lithium-ion batteries capable of pumping out up to 3,000kW/h –- enough to replace the output of the ship’s traditional engines, at least while docking in port.
Greg McNevin of Greenpeace International told us, “This is a positive development, as is any saving of CO2 emissions in the long run, but shipping is still extremely dirty.”
He continued, “With so much focus on aviation, the shipping industry has always been something of a dark horse, but it accounts for about twice the output of global aviation –- around four percent of global CO2 emissions.”
MOL says it will put two existing ships, 2005’s Euphony Ace and 2008’s Swift Ace -– into the hybrid project, which also has strong backing from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
Although the in-harbor maneuverings of a container ship account for just a small part of a typical journey, reducing pollution close to shore is a sure-fire headline grabber.
As for the bottom line, the vast size of car transporters means the absolute amount of emissions saved through using the solar rig, if not the saving relative to the journey as a whole, will add up over the long term and draw industry attention.
And, given that recent research has found just 16 of the world’s largest container ships produce as much sulfur pollution as the planet’s cars combined, it might not just be the shipping magnates taking heed.
CNNGo Comment Policy: CNN encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. All comments should be relevant to the topic and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. You are solely responsible for your own comments, the consequences of posting those comments, and the consequences of any reliance by you on the comments of others. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNN the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying and other information you provide via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNNGo Privacy Statement.
Comments are moderated by CNNGo, in accordance with the CNNGo Comment Policy above, and may not appear on this blog until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting. Also, due to the volume of comments we receive, not all comments will be posted.
User Comments and Reviews
What do you think?
Leave a comment or submit a review. You have to be logged in to comment.