The shipping industry is looking to renewables as a means of propulsion. A Japanese company has launched a trial to power a cargo ship using wind and solar energy.
Shipping is one of the world's leading sources of pollution. This comes as no surprise given the quantity of goods transported annually by sea on cargo ships, which, according to data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, accounts for 80 per cent of the volume of global trade. For this reason, Japan's Eco Marine Power is working alongside several partners on an international project to develop Aquarius marine renewable energy, an innovative solution that will allow ships to be powered in a more environmentally friendly way using clean energy both while berthed in port and while at sea.
In 2016, the European Union estimated the carbon released into the air by the shipping industry at over one billion tonnes per year. This volume of emissions corresponds to 2.5 per cent of all greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. A portion of this pollution could be reduced if the tests on the clean technology developed by Eco Marine Power were to prove successful. The challenge is far from straightforward: wind and solar are renewable energy sources that are widespread on land, but integrating these technologies into a cargo ship is by no means a simple task.
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The idea developed by Eco Marine Power involves mounting solar panels on the superstructures of large ships while simultaneously equipping vessels with energy storage systems controlled via computer by a dedicated monitoring system.
The project envisages special rigid sails fitted with a mix of sensors to regulate their orientation, an advanced electric propulsion system, an optimised hull design and heat recovery technologies. The company believes it can also install a number of wind turbines to boost electricity generation for use during navigation. The combination of all these elements could lead to a fuel saving of 40 per cent and reduce not only CO2 emissions but also those of sulphur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
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Testing of the project will begin from this year, thanks to the interest of Japanese shipowner Hisafuku Kisen KK of Onomichi, which will trial the first integrated rigid sail and solar energy system on some of its cargo ships. Initially, a number of feasibility studies will be carried out to assess how much energy needs to be generated to keep all the systems required for navigation and on-board activities running. In this way, it will be possible to determine precisely the number of solar panels to install and all the related systems. Once the testing phase is complete, the project will select a cargo ship to be fully fitted with the Aquarius system. If all subsequent monitoring — estimated to take a further 12–18 months — also yields positive results, then a new era will begin for the shipping industry too.