Transport is a fundamental component of travel. Without the ability to power the aircraft, ships, automobiles, and trains that allow for the movement of people, travel simply wouldn’t exist.
It is for this reason that sustainable applications within transport have become a priority and, according to Chris Yelland, a renowned local energy expert, there are plans to decarbonise the industry. Among these plans are charging stations for EV vehicles every 120km along major routes.
“You can’t have electric vehicles until you have charging stations,” remarked Yelland during a session on October 25 at the GBTA’s annual conference on responsible travel. Yelland explains that, for the innovations like EV transport to be rolled out, a whole ecosystem needs to be created.
In line with this, Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS) has tested several electric buses over recent years. Francois Meyer, CEO of GABS, told Engineering News that the transport provider aims to add 60 EV buses to its fleet from 2024. Estimates reported by Top Auto say that it will take cost GABS roughly R5.8 billion over 18 years to convert its fleet of 1 100 diesel buses. Currently, around 31% of the transport provider’s costs are spent on fuel – and it is no different for the airline industry.
Figures from Statists show that the percentage of fuel cost in airline companies’ overall spending is forecast to reach 30% in 2022 and 2023.
Although costs are one element, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) could mitigate emissions from the commercial airline sector by as much as 65% by 2050. To reach this target, 449 billion litres of SAF will need to be produced, and existing global production capacity is only at 125 million litres, says Iata.
However, there are some positive developments in the pipeline. In September, Sasol, DHL, and HH2E issued a statement announcing that they would partner to produce 200 000 tonnes (250 000 litres) of sustainable jet fuel in Germany by 2030. The partners aim to ramp up their operation to eventually produce 500 000 tonnes (625 000 litres) of SAF annually, reported reuters.com.
Significant strides are also being made in the development of hydrogen fuel cells, which, Yelland says, could soon replace cruise liners powered by heavy fuel oil.
Explora Cruises, owned by MSC Group, is leading the charge, and announced last month that it would add two more luxury cruise ships equipped with fuel cell technology to its portfolio in addition to another four vessels.
“We are seeing continued growth in the luxury segment, and the investment in these two new ships shows our commitment to continue to grow within this sector as well as to invest in ships of the future,” Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman for the Cruise Division, MSC Group, was quoted as saying by maritime-executive.com following the news of the announcement.
The first of these ships, Explora 1, set sail on August 1 from Copenhagen.
