Amid fears that shipping will be disproportionately penalised at the Paris COP21 conference, French container line CMA CGM has come out in support of shipping, claiming reductions in its own emissions of 50% in 10 years.
Through a combination of efficiency technologies and economies of scale, shipping is the most efficient form of transportation and is 70 times less polluting than air transport, the line emphasises.
Using hydrodynamics, hull optimisation technologies such as new bulbous bows, slow-steaming optimised propellers and twisted-leading-edge rudders, as well as effective route and speed optimisation, have allowed CMA’s own best performing vessels to emit 37 g of CO2 per container, with a fleet-wide average of 60 grams compared with an average 120 grams in 2005.
The group has also developed its own technologies including lightweight containers, which can save up to two tons of fuel per day and thus prevent emissions up to six tons of CO2, with bamboo flooring instead of wood which help to reduce deforestation, and efficient reefer systems that can cut the cost of electricity by a factor of two thirds.
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