Maritime transport is essential to the global economy, providing the most cost-effective means of transporting bulk goods over great distances compared to road or rail. Over 80% of the volume of international trade in goods – including everything from food and fuel to construction materials, chemicals and household items – is carried by sea, with more than 90,000 commercial ships sailing the world’s oceans, with a combined tonnage of 1.86 billion dead weight tonnes (UNCTAD, 2017).
However, an increasingly stringent regulatory environment threatens to overly burden our shipping industry. For example, the California Air Resource Board's (CARB) 2020 Final Regulation Order for Ocean-Going Vessels At-Berth will require expensive retrofit of shore power connectivity, dock or barge based SCR systems, or significant fines. Speed of Air has demonstrated the ability to achieve NOx 0.5 grams/KW-hr in legacy powerplants without the use of any after-gas treatment. This far exceeds the 2.5 grams/KW-hr that CARB has mandated in its final order. Combined with the fuel savings our technology provides, Speed of Air Clean Engine Technology provides an exceedingly attractive value proposition with a near-term ROI.
According to the International Maritme Organization, greenhouse gas emissions from shipping may increase by between 50% and 250%. Annually, international shipping is also responsible for approximately 13% and 12% of global nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx) emissions respectively. We just cannot delay innovative approaches to solving these problems.