The modern economy is highly dependent on shipping. Food, clothing, gasoline, cars, electronics, raw materials… up to 90% of what we buy goes through container ships at some point. A large part of these ships are powered by residual fuel oil that is particularly harmful to the climate, that is, a large part of our consumption goes through some of the most polluting vehicles, as explained by Grist. The development of ships that use non-fossil or alternative fuels becomes a necessity.

According to data from the European Parliament, maritime transport currently accounts for 3% of greenhouse gas emissions, but by 2050, due to population growth and economic expansion, it will account for 17%.

Agents who advocate for clean shipping have brought the issue to the COP23, the climate change summit that opened this November 6 in Bonn, Germany. The Climate Change Agreement does not include references to pollution from international shipping in its targets to limit global warming, arguing that such activity does not easily fit into national or regional pollution reduction schemes.

So far, some shipping companies have started projects to achieve greener or “zero emission” ships, but in the industry as a whole there is a lot of reluctance. An research consortium of shipping companies and academia, aims for a 2030 , there must be entry of zero emission freighters into the prevailing economy, and by 2050 almost all freighters must be zero emission, to comply with the Paris Agreement to keep global warming below 2ºC.