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Decarbonization of maritime transport: to be or not to be?

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  • Harilaos N. Psaraftis

    (Technical University of Denmark)

Abstract

International shipping is at a crossroads as regards decarbonization. The Paris climate change agreement in 2015 (COP21) was hailed by many as a most significant achievement. Others were less enthusiastic, and more recently American President Trump decided to take the U.S. out of the agreement. Four years earlier, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) had adopted the most sweeping piece of regulation pertaining to maritime greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, in the name of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI). In addition, one year after COP21, the IMO adopted a mandatory data collection system for fuel consumption of ships and agreed on an initial strategy and roadmap on the reduction of GHG emissions from ships. This paper takes a critical look at the above and other recent developments and focuses on the challenges faced by the industry if a path to significant CO2 reductions is to be successful. Difficulties and opportunities are identified, and the paper conjectures that the main obstacles are neither technical nor economic, but political.

Suggested Citation

  • Harilaos N. Psaraftis, 2019. "Decarbonization of maritime transport: to be or not to be?," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 21(3), pages 353-371, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:marecl:v:21:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1057_s41278-018-0098-8
    DOI: 10.1057/s41278-018-0098-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Harilaos N. Psaraftis, 2016. "Green Maritime Transportation: Market Based Measures," International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, in: Harilaos N. Psaraftis (ed.), Green Transportation Logistics, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 267-297, Springer.
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    Cited by:

    1. Harilaos N. Psaraftis & Christos A. Kontovas, 2020. "Decarbonization of Maritime Transport: Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Anastasia Christodoulou & Kevin Cullinane, 2024. "The prospects for, and implications of, emissions trading in shipping," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 26(1), pages 168-184, March.
    3. Mäkitie, Tuukka & Steen, Markus & Saether, Erik Andreas & Bjørgum, Øyvind & Poulsen, René T., 2022. "Norwegian ship-owners' adoption of alternative fuels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. Mundaca, Gabriela & Strand, Jon & Young, Ian R., 2021. "Carbon pricing of international transport fuels: Impacts on carbon emissions and trade activity," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    5. Jason Monios & Gordon Wilmsmeier, 2022. "Maritime governance after COVID-19: how responses to market developments and environmental challenges lead towards degrowth," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 24(4), pages 699-722, December.
    6. Orestis Schinas & Niklas Bergmann, 2021. "The Short-Term Cost of Greening the Global Fleet," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-32, August.
    7. Yifan Wang & Laurence A. Wright, 2021. "A Comparative Review of Alternative Fuels for the Maritime Sector: Economic, Technology, and Policy Challenges for Clean Energy Implementation," World, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-26, October.
    8. Monios, Jason & Ng, Adolf K.Y., 2021. "Competing institutional logics and institutional erosion in environmental governance of maritime transport," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    9. Wang, Shuaian & Yan, Ran, 2023. "Fundamental challenge and solution methods in prescriptive analytics for freight transportation," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    10. George Panagakos & Thiago de Sousa Pessôa & Nick Dessypris & Michael Bruhn Barfod & Harilaos N. Psaraftis, 2019. "Monitoring the Carbon Footprint of Dry Bulk Shipping in the EU: An Early Assessment of the MRV Regulation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-19, September.
    11. Patrizia Serra & Gianfranco Fancello, 2020. "Towards the IMO’s GHG Goals: A Critical Overview of the Perspectives and Challenges of the Main Options for Decarbonizing International Shipping," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-32, April.
    12. Sotiria Lagouvardou & Harilaos N. Psaraftis & Thalis Zis, 2020. "A Literature Survey on Market-Based Measures for the Decarbonization of Shipping," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-23, May.
    13. Assunta Di Vaio & Anum Zaffar & Daniel Balsalobre-Lorente & Antonio Garofalo, 2023. "Decarbonization technology responsibility to gender equality in the shipping industry: a systematic literature review and new avenues ahead," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-20, December.
    14. Jingwen Qi & Hans Wang & Jianfeng Zheng, 2022. "Promoting Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Bunkering for Maritime Transportation: Should Ports or Ships Be Subsidized?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-16, May.
    15. Ghaforian Masodzadeh, Peyman & Ölçer, Aykut I. & Ballini, Fabio & Christodoulou, Anastasia, 2022. "How to bridge the short-term measures to the Market Based Measure? Proposal of a new hybrid MBM based on a new standard in ship operation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 123-142.
    16. Gunnar Prause & Eunice O. Olaniyi & Wolfgang Gerstlberger, 2023. "Ammonia Production as Alternative Energy for the Baltic Sea Region," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-17, February.
    17. Jason Monios, 2023. "The Moral Limits of Market-Based Mechanisms: An Application to the International Maritime Sector," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 187(2), pages 283-299, October.

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