In 2019, the U.S. Transportation Sector of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a breakdown of transportation carbon emitters. The largest producer of carbon emissions was, unsurprisingly, light-duty vehicles, making up 58% of emissions. Heavy-duty trucks came in second at 24%, followed by aircraft (10%), rail (2%), ships and boats (2%), and other (5%). Good news is, we have suitable solutions to these numbers. For cars, the future is electric; many major car companies such as Volkswagen, Jaguar, Volvo, Cadillac, and many others all have outgoing pledges to become fully electric in the coming decade. In politics, California Governor Gavin Newsom has, via executive order, promised the end of net-emission vehicles by 2035, as transportation makes up roughly 50% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions. For aircraft, Airlines for America, a group representing American Airlines, Delta, United, JetBlue, Southwest, and others, has pledged to bring the airline industry to carbon neutrality by 2050 by upping the production of suitable aviation fuel (SAF). For rail, the future is bright as well. A railroad infrastructure expansion would not only mean a shift to a net-zero emission railroad, but also a cut down on emissions from some of the highest contributors like light-duty vehicles.
For the shipping industry, however, the future is unknown. Although they only produce 2% of all carbon emissions, that number is only expected to rise in the coming decades by close to 250%, something unfound in every other transportation industry where emissions are expected to fall. Of all the shipping giants throughout the world, only one has stepped forward with a plan to produce a carbon neutral vessel, Maersk. The Danish shipping company announced their plans to launch the world's first carbon-neutral ship by 2023, earlier this year. Maersk’s plan was to run the cargo vessel using Methanol, a fuel that can prove rather difficult to produce at a larger-scale for cargo vessels. As of now, the push for the 2023 deadline is in full flight and is likely to be met. While the rest of the shipping industries future is unknown, and carbon emissions are only projected to rise, global and political pressure to reduce carbon emissions is not easy to dismiss.
Anonymous
The Carbon Newsprint
https://www.transportenvironment.org/news/world%E2%80%99s-first-%E2%80%98carbon-neutral%E2%80%99-ship-will-rely-dead-end-fuel
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