Report Highlights Pathways To Net-Zero Emissions For North American Shipping

The Blue Sky Maritime Coalition released a new report November 11 focused on further supporting the North American shipping industry’s journey toward achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

The report, second in a series identifying the pathways and approaches to accelerate the transition to net-zero emissions, looks at the roles of vessel types, inventories and GHG accounting approaches.

The Blue Sky Maritime Coalition, a non-profit corporation, is a strategic alliance formed to accelerate the transition of waterborne transportation in Canada and the United States toward net-zero GHG emissions.

“Developing recommendations to standardize accounting for GHG emissions within the North American shipping industry is essential in paving the way to net-zero emissions,” said David Cummins, coalition president and CEO. “Distributing this data and making it easily accessible is an important step in expanding the drive to adopt these new technologies and ideas.”The report highlights how decarbonizing shipping will require the use of multiple fuels and propulsion systems, even within a single vessel category. It revealed that emissions associated with North American shipping are not required to be reported under a standardized structure, so different approaches are emerging as voluntary reporting has continued to increase.

The report also sets forth a more detailed assessment of the currently operating vessel categories, their operational constraints and emissions profiles and the implications for decarbonizing the marine value chain by 2050.

“Although there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to future low- and zero-carbon marine fuels, flexibility and a range of fuels and propulsion systems could be appropriately adopted through advances in technology and regulatory incentives,” Cummins said.

For more information contact communications@bluesky-maritime.org, or visit www.bluesky-maritime.org.