While ships can be a relatively efficient means of transporting goods (especially when compared to flying), they still create a sizable share of global greenhouse gas emissions. According to Oceana, “If global shipping were a country, it would be the sixth largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions. Only the United States, China, Russia, India and Japan emit more carbon dioxide than the worldβs shipping fleet.”
While most of those emissions no doubt come from actually moving goods, ships also produce a lot of CO2 and pollution when standing still… because they run their engines while docked at ports. Seems ridiculous, but that’s how they keep electrical systems running while docked.
Why not just plug them in?
That’s a solution being proposed by global energy services company ABB. Take a look at the following infographic to see what kind of difference plugging into grids in port cities would make for ships’ greenhouse gas emissions… and, if you’re interested in more, head over to Earth & Industry to read about this initiative.
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