The shipping industry is vital to the global economy, but it’s also a huge contributor to the climate crisis. Morten Bo Christiansen, a leader of the energy transition for the global shipping company A.P. Moller–Maersk, talks to TED’s Lindsay Levin about the launch of the first-ever cargo ship powered by green methanol, the industry’s urgent need to shift away from fossil fuels — and what it could all mean for people’s pockets.
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Beef
August 30, 2023 at 12:01 pm
Green fuel. Uh…I guess it’s “Green” because it burns carbon from a “Renewable” source.
X
August 30, 2023 at 12:03 pm
Well that’s just not true. The world has seen hundreds of nuclear ships and submarines. 0 emissions.
Trevor Hall
August 30, 2023 at 12:28 pm
people always ignore nuclear
julian shepherd
August 30, 2023 at 1:08 pm
Most people think nuclear power is best on solid land.
Happy Slappy!
August 30, 2023 at 12:03 pm
Putting green in front of the word methanol doesn’t make it green because it comes from biofuel which is made from burning wood pulp generally…
Trevor Hall
August 30, 2023 at 12:30 pm
so in simple terms, the “clean” fuel they are talking about is made by burning wood pulp, thus emitting carbon anyways?
julian shepherd
August 30, 2023 at 1:08 pm
@Trevor Hallyou replant the trees. We do that in Europe.
Trevor Hall
August 30, 2023 at 9:58 pm
@julian shepherd yes obviously, but burning trees emits carbon. Replanting trees does not fully compensate for the loss of carbon storage that occurs when burning the tress, especially on a repeated schedule. At least that is my understanding
kxmalahov
August 30, 2023 at 12:04 pm
Denmark is like 2 Haiti’s islands. China is nearly 400 times bigger. and all of this bbuullshite.
Q&A News
August 30, 2023 at 12:04 pm
_Carbon sustains the growth of trees and plants; the notion of eliminating it constitutes an act of ecocide._
Anthonie Weyland
August 30, 2023 at 12:06 pm
Well its a start ! 🔋👍
Meanderin Oranges
August 30, 2023 at 12:11 pm
How about we just support businesses that make their products in the USA?
LithePanther
August 30, 2023 at 12:46 pm
I’d rather not own crap thanks@Meanderin Oranges
Meanderin Oranges
August 30, 2023 at 12:52 pm
@LithePanther wow, you’re a lovely person. Maybe you should move to a different country.
David Holaday
August 30, 2023 at 1:20 pm
Because the USA isn’t the only country in the world, silly.
David Holaday
August 30, 2023 at 1:22 pm
@Meanderin Oranges I like your name though by the way. It’s funny. 😂
David Holaday
August 30, 2023 at 1:24 pm
Also, most or many people in the comments will not be from the USA.
Terri Hasstedt
August 30, 2023 at 12:16 pm
The industry is trying that is more than many others, he never said they would not keep trying that this is their sole solution. Don’t bash them down when they are just trying to move forward to benefit all of us. Help keeping them and others as they move forward.
Andrea Fiorini
August 30, 2023 at 12:44 pm
This is a scam. I am tired of seeing my intelligence insulted
user 15481
August 30, 2023 at 1:46 pm
Think about it. This guy is with a huge shipping company that has an almost monopoly on shipping to Europe. He has created a solution that he has stated they don’t have enough fuel for. And who needs to pick up the bill? “We all do” he says. He’s looking for a handout of public funds. This is a sales pitch for a technology that doesn’t work.
Samuel Zev
August 30, 2023 at 8:00 pm
@user 15481it may appear that it doesn’t work now but give it time then eventually progress will be made and it becomes mainstream just like aeroplanes were considered silly ideas until they reach flight
Claudio Jopia Vilches
August 30, 2023 at 8:02 pm
@user 15481then they’ll pocket the profits and tax-payer funds to only rule out the project as unfeasible
Samuel Zev
August 30, 2023 at 8:11 pm
@Andrea Fiorinimobile phones were also seen as stupid too, they were big chunky blocks back then but now everyone uses them. Perhaps your idea of intelligence needs to be re-examined, sounds like willful ignorance
Stacey Bingham
August 31, 2023 at 8:16 am
It absolutely does work. It just has to be tweaked to a larger scale. With any change or new way of doing things, it’s not going to be perfect right away. That does not mean it’s a scam. Just like solar power is not a scam and electric vehicles are not a scam. However, they did not work perfectly right away. And it takes a tremendous amount of revenue to make it work. The bigger the project, the bigger the revenue. They aren’t trying to steal peoples money. It’s an investment in the future of our children and grandchildren and so on. It’s a great thing.
Andrea Fiorini
September 3, 2023 at 5:56 am
We bash them down because they give false hopes and help the oil industry hiding the truth
Mike Sands
August 30, 2023 at 12:27 pm
You mean the wind powered cargo ships of the 5th century BCE until 1920s don’t count?
No Name
August 30, 2023 at 12:29 pm
“Green” cargo ships have existed for thousands of years, the Chinese were one of the first to make them.
David Holaday
August 30, 2023 at 1:19 pm
Yeah, but not one that can go incredibly fast with a motor.
Darin Herrick
September 2, 2023 at 11:41 am
@David Holaday things that need to go incredibly fast go by plane.
Mar nig
August 30, 2023 at 12:36 pm
A little late?
Mantaray
August 30, 2023 at 1:27 pm
Methanol is costly and may or may not be from green sources. And it must be burned to produce energy. But the environmental benefits of wind are unmistakable. And wind costs nothing.
Stacey Bingham
August 31, 2023 at 8:22 am
Wind is not feasible. As in sails. Not when you have a ship that’s many times larger with a much larger payload. It would be a near impossible task that would take forever to reach its destination.
user 15481
August 30, 2023 at 1:38 pm
Why not use sails? They seem pretty energy efficient and humans have a long history of using them.
Stacey Bingham
August 31, 2023 at 8:19 am
It also took a lot longer to get places with sails. Now imagine a ship many times larger with a much heavier payload. It would be a near impossible task.
user 15481
August 31, 2023 at 8:35 am
@Stacey Bingham duh smaller boats.
Miss Demeanor
August 30, 2023 at 1:39 pm
Sailboats. Checkmate.
Timothy OBrien
August 30, 2023 at 2:07 pm
Could sail be used on a super cargo ship seriously I don’t know
Cranfk Tubner
August 30, 2023 at 1:41 pm
Why “she” for a boat ? 🤔
Gio6
August 30, 2023 at 1:42 pm
Cool. What happens when you have a brown out ?
"Class Acts" expertise and inspirational performance
August 30, 2023 at 2:03 pm
In Ireland the diesel engines in the Tug boats in Dublin harbour have been run for the last year on truly green fuel – treated waste vegetable oil, rather than methane based fuels which carry a higher CO2 risk.
Interstellarsurfer
August 30, 2023 at 2:05 pm
Congrats on building your first-of-it’s-kind, wood fired steamship. Oh, wait…
John Foley
August 30, 2023 at 2:43 pm
Methanol emits CO2 just like any other fuel.
P. B. Foote
August 30, 2023 at 3:09 pm
Stop burning stuff. Burning less stuff, or burning stuff that emits less Co2 is like digging your way out of a hole with a smaller shovel.
Stacey Bingham
August 30, 2023 at 3:17 pm
So what happens to the old ships? Or are the existing ships retrofitted to accept methanol as a fuel which would be most cost effective and better for the environment.? Why not Ethanol?
Stacey Bingham
August 30, 2023 at 3:17 pm
So what happens to the old ships? Or are the existing ships retrofitted to accept methanol as a fuel which would be most cost effective and better for the environment.? Why not Methanol? It’s a heck of a lot cheaper than gas. It’s cheaper to make and we don’t have to worry about buying and converting oil to do so. I can think of a million positive reasons to do this. Yes, wind would be the exceptional answer. Let’s just plop a wind turbine on top of all the ships . Oh right, they still need to float. And with the size of the cargo ships these days and the added payload there just won’t be strong enough wind to suffice.
Johnny
August 30, 2023 at 4:36 pm
Pure bull and marketing nonsense….the science is wrong and outright lies… Go back and walk!!!!
Ivan Kocher
August 30, 2023 at 5:25 pm
I was not aware that methanol can be produced from water and CO2. Watching this video I google for “methianol from electrivcity”, and to my surprise is not a new thing. I guess it is about time.
Stacey Bingham
August 31, 2023 at 8:50 am
It can be made from biomass, natural gas and coal.
Justin DeRosa
August 30, 2023 at 6:03 pm
Ted. Marketing worth fact-checking.
Mantaray
August 30, 2023 at 6:26 pm
The vast majority of products do not need quick transport but only regular arrivals. Slow sailing ships are perfect for that. The tiny number products requiring quick delivery could still be shipped using fossil fuels or nuclear power.
keith dubose
August 31, 2023 at 1:18 am
Geeze …. blocking TED
Andy Cordy
August 31, 2023 at 2:54 am
As a major player in marine transportation, I applaud the attitude at Maersk, however the myth of biofuel as a satisfactory route to de-carbonisation has fooled them into investing in the wrong technology. If every shipping line in the world starts using biofuel, the land use required to grow the materials to produce the fuel is colossal.
As for the headline. Is nobody aware that until the rise of fossil fuelled steam vessels in the 19th century, there was true green energy powering marine transportation.
So, without wishing to slap Maersk down, this is greenwashing AND clickbate.
With an exploding population and a desperate need to reforest the gigantic areas of temperate rainforest destroyed to make way for western civilization, the last thing we need to be doing is ripping out more trees to make land for biofuel production and/or losing productive land that used to grow food.
Stacey Bingham
August 31, 2023 at 8:47 am
Methanol is also made of other products besides crops
Stacey Bingham
August 31, 2023 at 8:57 am
And remember they had to use a fuel called coal to feed those steam engines. So really it’s no different. Just a more pure form. Depending what they used to make the biofuel.
Philip TAylor
September 3, 2023 at 3:15 pm
@Stacey Binghamlike what, fossil fuels?
Spam Mouse
August 31, 2023 at 5:05 am
Somewhat discounted decades of wind powered sailing ships that first explored and traversed the globe hundreds of years ago!
Reiner Hoffmann
August 31, 2023 at 5:28 am
Hallo TED , could you make a video about energy dome and cm blue. Energy dome is a italian firm, that stores electric energy in a closed system by liquifying CO2 gas. CM Blue is a German breakthrough firm, that has develop scaleable batteries with an organic compound instead of lithium.
Both methods are highly effiecent, rather cheap and build with components that are in use for over 100 years.
I think, both are a big step foreward in storing electric energy, which makes the weather depending production of windmills and solarpanels a lot more useable.
Greetings from franconia
trader2137
August 31, 2023 at 6:52 am
that green fuel propaganda is just making our lives more expensive, green fuel is few times more expensive than diesel, why would you want more expensive transport, thats pure idiocy
Biking Like Becker
August 31, 2023 at 6:03 pm
Should go back to using sails.. isn’t that what they are trying to do anyway, using as little fuel as possible, pretty much? Just have ships continuously circling the globe following the wind..
This isn’t like before when we were navigating using the stars… The amount of instruments we have at our disposal is astounding for being as primitive as we still are as a Tier 0 species…
There is no better time to be alive in the history of humans as we are about to colonize another planet and become a Tier 1 species.. We are living in Biblical Times… Make your Marks!
Philip TAylor
September 3, 2023 at 3:17 pm
Classic greenwashing.
El gustavo D
September 4, 2023 at 2:18 am
So your still burning stuff then. Great success 💩 can’t beat a bit of greenwashing
Aniya
September 5, 2023 at 2:11 pm
I think this was already invented thousands of years ago. 😂