voestalpine’s Post

https://lnkd.in/edbk8pQk Around 90 percent of global trade is carried by sea. The fleet - whether freighters, container ships or tankers - is powered by heavy fuel oil, a fuel that is extremely harmful to the environment and the climate. Every day, around 100,000 ships sail the world's oceans. Shipping as a whole is responsible for over 2.5 percent of global CO2 emissions, and the trend is rising. More than 20 well-known major corporations have now launched an initiative to make shipping more climate-friendly. The companies, including Amazon, Ikea, Levi's, Nike and Tchibo, launched a tender for the transport of 600,000 standard containers on ships powered by emission-free fuels. According to the initiators, this corresponds to a saving of around one million tons of CO2 emissions over three years, roughly the amount emitted by 215,000 combustion cars. The tender is being run through the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (Zemba). Zemba is a "buyer's alliance" in the maritime sector founded last March by Amazon, Patagonia and Tchibo, as well as the U.S. think tank Aspen Institute. The goal is to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission transportation solutions. Zemba has called on shipping companies to offer transportation that produces at least 90 percent fewer greenhouse gases than before. The ships with eco-drives, meaning "new, clean fuels," are to start sailing in 2025. The buyer community is offering a surcharge for this to cover the additional costs. Rejection of battery-electric propulsion The key to decarbonizing shipping is considered to be the use of low-CO2 fuels, although these have not yet been produced on a large scale. The main candidates are hydrogen and its derivatives such as ammonia, which are produced using renewable energies, and liquefied gas from biogenic raw materials. The tender is intended to stimulate the production of these fuels. Although there are already ships with purely electric propulsion and energy storage in batteries, these are mainly ferries and excursion boats. In the opinion of many experts, this solution is not sufficient for heavy transport. Hamburg-based coffee company Tchibo, one of the project's initiators, says Zemba makes it possible to take the first steps toward environmentally friendly sea freight. "We are determined to take a leading role by agreeing on a green surcharge for zero-emission transport capacity," said manager Alexander Ralfs. The goal is an "affordable, scalable and long-term solution" for zero-emission shipping, Ralfs said. On the positive side, he said, there is a lot of interest in Zemba from the business community, and membership is growing.

The green transition is picking up momentum, #methanol from #waste and #co2 as an enabler for carbon capture & use. Even German environmental organisations have discovered this, who would have thought that? https://lnkd.in/gZ5CBpaY

Jopa Greenpeace iloitsee Northvoltin Saksan akkutehtaasta: "Heide shows what a modern and sustainable industrial country can look like. This battery factory uses green electricity directly where it is generated, it brings added value back into the country and can give momentum to the switch to clean electric cars in Germany, which has so far been far too slow. It's good that the necessary recycling cycle for batteries is being planned here. If the plant receives an efficient rail connection in time, Heide can become an encouraging lighthouse project for the entire country." Benjamin Stephan, Greenpeace mobility expert. #akkuteollisuus #vastuullisuus #northvolt #greenpeace #saksa https://lnkd.in/d9P-NSbv

Did you know that plastic pollution in the oceans costs over 2 billion euros annually, affecting fishing, aquaculture, leisure and global well-being?  Plastic pollution has emerged as one of today's most significant environmental challenges.  As we grapple with the hidden costs of plastic pollution, it becomes crucial to address this issue collectively.  We at everwave stand at the forefront of this mission. Removing plastic waste from rivers and waterways before it reaches the ocean safeguards marine life and reduces the financial burden on economies heavily dependent on tourism and fishing industries.  To overcome the actual costs of plastic pollution, we must unite governments, private sectors, and marginalized communities. Through collaborative efforts, innovative technologies like PlasticObs can help trace the origins of plastic waste and drive policy changes for responsible waste disposal.  The time to act is now. Together we can pave the way for a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient planet for future generations. Let's take the plunge and make a difference today! 🌏💚 PlasticObs is a collaborative consortium comprising OPTIMARE Systems GmbH , Jade Hochschule  , Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz (DFKI) , and everwave . Read the blog post: https://lnkd.in/e8aRF3EP #PlasticPolution #PlasticObs_Plus

Not just today for World Recycling Day 2024: Be a recycling hero! Don't know how to do it or where to start? Never mind! No one is born a hero, but every day we grow and learn. Each small step counts, even when it comes to recycling. If waste - whether cardboard, plastic or glass - is disposed of correctly, we can recover raw materials and turn them into new products. And this is precisely one of the aims of Global Recycling Day: to think about resources rather than waste when it comes to the goods that surround us every day. At FKuR, we know that recycling is crucial for the circular economy. Therefore, we offer sustainable plastic solutions to make your circular plastic products work. Let’s join forces and become the recycling hero’s of tomorrow! https://fkur.com/ #RecyclingHeroes #bioplastics #recyclates 

Container ships with hydrogen propulsion: They will soon be cruising here. The maritime industry is facing a revolution. It has the potential to reshape global trade. An example: an innovative project that aims to reduce the amount of harmful carbon emissions caused by international maritime transport. https://lnkd.in/epycfVPZ

How to lower CO2-Emissions of the Transportation Sector   „Innovation instead of instruments of torture against car users” is the title of my editorial on the German debate on CO2 emissions of the transportation sector. https://lnkd.in/ec8sGv7g For many weeks, the liberal German Transport Minister Volker Wissing has been criticized for not reaching the targets for lowering CO2-emissions by the transportation sector.   The Public German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) presented a report on “Getting the Transportation Sector on Course” (Report 59/2024) with suggestions for lowering the emissions of the transportation sector. These seem like a list of torture instruments for individual transport, car users and freight transport by lorry: Speed limits would be only a minor thing. What is asked for would be a tax called “Malus for combustion engines”, to be paid with the road tax of the first year. From 2025 onwards, for a simple Volkswagen Golf with a petrol engine of 150 horsepowers (110 kW), there would be an additional tax of 2760 Euro, from 2030 onwards a tax of 30.240 Euro, then mercifully reduced to half of the price of the car. On top, for all private cars, there is the request of a tax on every kilometer covered, initially 1,3 Eurocent, later more than 7 Eurocent per kilometer. Thus, individual transport should be cut by one quarter. Also freight transport should pay more, with tolls for all lorries and roads, which should be drastically increased.   The reason for these drastic measures should be the inability of the transport minister to increase the number of electric cars on the roads. But it is not his fault that there are not enough possibilities to charge cars at home or at work or that there is not enough green energy to charge the cars. This is the responsibility of the Green Minister for the Economy and Climate, Robert Habeck.   The general problem of German climate activists is that they want to make an example of Germany, forgetting the rest of the world. In Germany, in general, CO2-emissions have shrunk by 37 per cent from 1990 to 2022, in the EU by 27 per cent, while they have risen by 62 for the whole world, in China by 285 per cent. During the same period, the emissions of the German transportation sector have shrunk by 10 per cent, while they rose by 19 per cent in the EU, globally by 72 per cent.   Lowering the German contribution to the World CO2 emissions – 1,4 per cent in general and 0,27 per cent for the German transportation sector – will not save the climate. While German climate activists seem to desire the end of the local car industry, the opposite would be necessary: Innovations of the car industry, clever regulation, and openness of consumers for change would offer the chance for a contribution to lower global emissions.