Highlights The emission-intensive container shipping industry needs environmental innovations. Conventional emissions reduction measures are costly or require structural changes. We assess impacts of a container lightweighting technological innovation up to 2050. The MUSE global integrated assessment model is employed for different fuel scenarios. A 4.7
Abstract Container shipping has become an emission-intensive industry; existing regulations, however, continue to display limitations. Technical emissions reduction measures require large, long-term investments, while operational measures may negatively impact transportation costs and supply-chain practices. For container shipping to become more sustainable, innovative, low-cost technological solutions are required. This study discusses such a technological game-changer which utilizes a lighter container type that, contrary to conventional ones, does not require wood in its floor. In this regard, emissions reductions are achieved both due to lower fuel consumption and tree savings. We estimate the global impact of this technology until 2050 using an integrated assessment model and considering different projections about future characteristics of the container fleet. Our results indicate that the adoption of the examined technology can reduce emissions by 4.7–18.8% depending on the main fuel used in container shipping lines, saving also a total of about 44 million trees.
Low-cost emissions cuts in container shipping: Thinking inside the box
2021-01-01
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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