CO2 output from shipping twice as much as airlines
The UK’s Guardian is warning us that CO2 output from shipping twice as much as airlines.
Separate studies suggest that maritime carbon dioxide emissions are not only higher than previously thought, but could rise by as much as 75% in the next 15 to 20 years if world trade continues to grow and no action is taken. The figures from the oil giant BP, which owns 50 tankers, and researchers at the Institute for Physics and Atmosphere in Wessling, Germany reveal that annual emissions from shipping range between 600 and 800m tonnes of carbon dioxide, or up to 5% of the global total. This is nearly double Britain’s total emissions and more than all African countries combined.
Global Trade must grow, it enriches us all, but we need not poison the planet as a result. It’s time to fix solar panels and huge sails to those massive freight ships, and, with the latest auto-pilot technology and GPS, relegate the burning of fossil fuels to ship stuff about the globe to the dirty past. If ever there was a candidate for solar/wind power it’s freight ships. — DS
Technorati Tags: climate change, emissions reduction, freight, global warming, green power, shipping
