Mechanical sails? Batteries? Shippers forming 'green corridors' to fast-track cleaner technologies
Water transport is a cost-efficient way of moving goods and people — but it emits lots of greenhouse gases
It's among the world's busiest container shipping routes — a stream of vessels packed with furniture, automobiles, clothing and other goods, traversing the Pacific between Los Angeles and Shanghai.
If plans succeed, this corridor will become a showcase for slashing planet-warming carbon emissions from the shipping industry, which produces nearly 3% of the world's total. That's less than from cars, trucks, rail or aviation but still a lot — and it's rising.
The International Maritime Organization, which regulates commercial shipping, wants to halve its greenhouse gas releases by midcentury and may seek deeper cuts this year. “Shipping must embrace decarbonization," IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim said in February.
Meeting agency targets will require significant vessel and infrastructure changes. That's inspiring plans for “green shipping corridors" along major routes where new technologies and methods could be fast-tracked and scaled up.
