Scientists propose new strategy for modern sails to help shipping sector
meet its carbon reduction goals

Date:
July 3, 2023
Source:
University of Manchester
Summary:
Researchers have identified a strategy that can offset the random
and unpredictable nature of weather conditions that threaten carbon
emission reduction efforts in the shipping sector.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers have identified a strategy that can offset the random and unpredictable nature of weather conditions that threaten carbon emission reduction efforts in the shipping sector.

Erratic weather is a major source of concern for ship owners installing
modern sails to reduce carbon emissions. However, new research from
The University of Manchester highlights operational strategies that can
reduce shipping emissions by up to a quarter, strengthening confidence
in sails as a decarbonisation tool.

It is estimated that the international shipping sector contributes to 2-3%
of global carbon emissions annually and its target to cut carbon by 50% relative to 2008 levels by 2050 falls short of the cuts required in the
Paris Climate Agreement, meaning the shipping sector requires urgent
global action.

The research, published in the journal Ocean Engineering, calculated
carbon emissions from more than 1000 ship departures setting sail from
three main shipping routes. The results found that combining modern sail technology with efficient routing systems could provide greater assurances
of carbon savings by using the technique that reduces uncertainty from unpredictable weather patterns.

Dr James Mason, previously a postdoctoral researcher and now a visiting academic at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at The
University of Manchester, said: "Current measures to reduce carbon
emissions include fitting retrofit technologies, such as wind propulsion technology, where modern sails produce direct energy from the wind to
reduce the power consumed by a ship's engine. Weather routing is also used
as an efficient routing system to allow a ship to deviate from standard shipping routes to search for new routes with more favourable winds.

"Current academic methods assume a perfect foresight of future weather
rather than accounting for unpredictable winds that are happening in
real-time. This can detrimentally reduce the carbon savings from weather routing and could present a real challenge for the shipping sector when
trying to meet its climate reduction goals." Dr Alejandro Gallego Schmid,
a Senior Lecturer at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research,
added: "This research provides an insight into which routes are most
sensitive to changing weather forecasts when using wind propulsion and
assesses a strategy that could help to mitigate the detrimental impact
that unpredictable weather conditions can have." The strategy mirrors
existing routing methods in the sector by updating weather and wind
every 12 hours to allow ships to adjust their routes based on the most
accurate weather forecast available.

To test the strategy, the study simulated 1080 ship departures across
eastbound and westbound journeys in the North Sea, South Atlantic Ocean
and North Atlantic Ocean, which have voyage times of up to 12 days.

The research found that the method successfully reduced the uncertainty
from unpredictable weather and showed that sails and efficient routing
can provide annual carbon savings of up to 25%.

However, while the method reduces the uncertainty from unpredictable
weather, it does not remove it entirely. Wind propulsion and
efficient routing can provide maximum carbon savings of up to 29%
in ideal conditions and weather uncertainty reduces these savings by
10-20%. Further research is needed to understand how ships can achieve
these maximum savings in practice.

Reducing shipping emissions by up to a quarter by using wind propulsion
with efficient routing could provide profound benefits to the sector. The research offers a clearer understanding of the potential carbon savings achievable through wind propulsion decarbonisation strategies, without
which, objectives in the Paris Climate Agreement may become out of sight.

* RELATED_TOPICS
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# Wind_Energy # Automotive_and_Transportation #
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# Weather # Global_Warming # Severe_Weather
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# Economics # Energy_Issues # Environmental_Policies
* RELATED_TERMS
o Climate_engineering o Fullerene o Weather
o Severe_weather_terminology_(United_States) o
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Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Manchester. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. James Mason, Alice Larkin, Alejandro Gallego-Schmid. Mitigating
stochastic uncertainty from weather routing for ships with wind
propulsion. Ocean Engineering, 2023; 281: 114674 DOI: 10.1016/
j.oceaneng.2023.114674 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230703133044.htm

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