Maersk eco-boats have the first-mover disadvantage

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Maersk eco-boats have the first-mover disadvantage
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The company, valued at $ 53 billion, will spend $ 1.4 billion on eight carbon-neutral methanol-powered container ships

AP Moller-Maersk’s laudable environmental rush could bring down the Danish transport giant at the first-mover disadvantage. The $ 53 billion company is going to spend $ 1.4 billion on eight carbon-neutral methanol-powered container ships. Customers like Amazon.com are likely to absorb the high costs, but rivals who come in later could navigate with cheaper and more environmentally friendly halos.

It is undeniable that the initiative of the CEO, Soren Skou, is courageous: the eight ships in question cost up to 15% more than the normal ones, and the methanol costs at least twice as much as the viscous bunker fuel that powers the world’s marine fleet. currently. But it is necessary. Transport accounts for almost 3% of global emissions, roughly the same as aviation, and Maersk is its biggest player. Last year it emitted 34 million tons of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

In the first point, Skou has a safety net. Customers like Amazon and Unilever are likely willing to pay the extra to reduce the carbon footprint of the merchandise they sell. At the second point, Skou could go further. When afloat, by the middle of this decade, the new ships will save just 1 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, a trifle amid Maersk’s total emissions. And the combustion of methanol does not stop producing carbon dioxide, although it is recycled from plants.

A better solution is carbon-free fuels like hydrogen or ammonia. The former is still prohibitively expensive; The Hydrogen Council says it will only make business sense in 2030, when carbon dioxide is taxed at $ 335 a ton. But the equivalent figure for ammonia is just $ 85.

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Ammonia toxicity is a problem. However, the commercial viability of this technology may be as low as two years. If they can wait, perhaps Skou’s rivals will get a greener and cheaper harvest.