Pressed to Reduce Shipping Emissions, Leading Organizations Turn to Lithium Ion Energy Storage

Multiple threats to marine ecosystems

Real and present threats to the health of the oceans, and concerns about their impacts on economies and societies continue to come under scrutiny, and justifiably so.

Urgency mounts to find solutions to the multiple stresses on ocean ecosystems. Among these threats are fisheries collapse, chemical and plastic pollution, warming and acidifying ocean waters, shifting water and wind circulation patterns, and sea level rise.

Shipping emissions

Analysts forecast that the shipping industry’s carbon gas emissions could increase as much as from 50 to 250 percent worldwide come 2050. Furthermore, the industry’s share of global emissions is forecast to increase from around three to 17 percent given the realization of the UN Paris Accord’s emissions reduction goals across other sectors.

Shipping and aviation greenhouse gas emissions are not included in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Paris Agreement, however; and members of the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) have been unable to agree on any global industry emissions reduction targets.

Some shipping companies and other maritime organizations are advancing along this course nonetheless. They’re investing greater amounts in new ship designs and propulsion technology in bids to increase fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and waste, and create a core set of industry best environmental practices.  Continue reading “Pressed to Reduce Shipping Emissions, Leading Organizations Turn to Lithium Ion Energy Storage”

The Sea is Confused : Humanity is Tied to Ocean Health

A lonely shoreline, a lost dream. The sea is confused

Throughout humanity’s history,  we have taken from the sea and thrived. Its seemingly endless bounty rises up, beckoning us out into the yawning expanse and unfathomable depths.

All is tied, eventually, to the sea.

But the sea is a fearsome and unrelenting provider. It can be pushed too far. The lessons of the past are known, but too often not learned.

The Cod and the Whale of legend are gone.

The sea is confused

Relentless and rising demand leave top trophic species progressively depleted. Floating fish factories scoop up vast swaths of biomass. Dead zones expand as oceans absorb more heat, carbon dioxide, and phosphorous. Bits and pieces of our detritus wash into the sea, a constant flow of waste and thoughtless avarice.

A “confused ocean” drives the hunt further out to sea, further down the marine food web.

We push our planetary partner from all sides at our peril.


Photo by Igor Goryachev on Unsplash