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You seem to have conflated CO2 with other pollutants. All the world's shipping taken together amounts to only 3% of the carbon emission inventory. It certainly

by bt848 7y ago

You seem to have conflated CO2 with other pollutants. All the world's shipping taken together amounts to only 3% of the carbon emission inventory. It certainly is not the case that 15 ships emit more carbon than all cars.

jdc 7y ago
Where does the 3% figure come from? It's not clear to me that we have or are even trying to get accurate sea-based emissions inventory.
- semi-extrinsic 7y ago
  You can get a very good inventory just from sales of petroleum-based fuel to the shipping industry. Nobody buys diesel or LNG except to burn it.
- blunte 7y ago
  This article: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2017/03/11/green-finance-for-dirty-ships https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2017/03/11/g...
Supermancho 7y ago
> It certainly is not the case that 15 ships emit more carbon than all cars. That is correct. However, the pollutants that the referenced ships produce are far more hazardous (immediately) and in greater volumes than many countries produce (in aggregate) per year. To put it in perspective...warning: this is an analogy that mixes metaphors: Talking about CO2 emissions while Nuclear Waste is constantly being pumped into the ocean is shuffling the deck chairs.
- semi-extrinsic 7y ago
  I don't follow what you're saying. Is it that other emissions than CO2 are more important to fight? Well, that change is already happening with the ongoing big change towards LNG as the preferred fuel for shipping. But when it comes to reducing CO2 emissions, outside of improving energy efficiency, it seems nobody has anything even remotely viable today. That goes both for deep sea shipping and for most air travel.
  - bt848 7y ago
    There's always sailing, although it's a bit laborious, and fission has a good record at sea :-)
    - blunte 7y ago
      There is some progress in applying wind power to shipping (other than the traditional fixed sails) - https://www.ship-technology.com/projects/msbelugaskysails/ https://www.ship-technology.com/projects/msbelugaskysails/ The German company SkySails has been working for years on kites that can reduce fuel use on large ships. I think at some point we'll see alternative (renewable) energy taking over shipping as it is gradually taking over other domains.

by bt848 7y ago

jdc 7y ago

Where does the 3% figure come from? It's not clear to me that we have or are even trying to get accurate sea-based emissions inventory.

semi-extrinsic 7y ago
You can get a very good inventory just from sales of petroleum-based fuel to the shipping industry. Nobody buys diesel or LNG except to burn it.
blunte 7y ago
This article: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2017/03/11/green-finance-for-dirty-ships https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2017/03/11/g...

Supermancho 7y ago

> It certainly is not the case that 15 ships emit more carbon than all cars. That is correct. However, the pollutants that the referenced ships produce are far more hazardous (immediately) and in greater volumes than many countries produce (in aggregate) per year. To put it in perspective...warning: this is an analogy that mixes metaphors: Talking about CO2 emissions while Nuclear Waste is constantly being pumped into the ocean is shuffling the deck chairs.

semi-extrinsic 7y ago
I don't follow what you're saying. Is it that other emissions than CO2 are more important to fight? Well, that change is already happening with the ongoing big change towards LNG as the preferred fuel for shipping. But when it comes to reducing CO2 emissions, outside of improving energy efficiency, it seems nobody has anything even remotely viable today. That goes both for deep sea shipping and for most air travel.
- bt848 7y ago
  There's always sailing, although it's a bit laborious, and fission has a good record at sea :-)
  - blunte 7y ago
    There is some progress in applying wind power to shipping (other than the traditional fixed sails) - https://www.ship-technology.com/projects/msbelugaskysails/ https://www.ship-technology.com/projects/msbelugaskysails/ The German company SkySails has been working for years on kites that can reduce fuel use on large ships. I think at some point we'll see alternative (renewable) energy taking over shipping as it is gradually taking over other domains.