The problems of being future-proof

Investing in anything carries an element of risk. Next generation technology will fall in price and grow in functionality the moment you buy the current model; the car you are considering offers good performance but will you need to pay to drive it in your local city centre next year?

Expand this reasoning to the alternative fuels needed to power the shipping industry through the remainder of the 21st century and the choices become bewildering, the risks colossal.

The message is not necessarily that one fuel is right and the other wrong, but rather that the industry needs to understand much more about the fuels needed for decarbonization before it makes the biggest bets since the transition from sail to steam.

It’s a problem studied by the Maritime Technologies Forum (MTF), which has concluded there is a critical knowledge gap between the perceived feasibility of alternative fuels such as bio-methanol and green ammonia and their readiness for adoption.

Read more here.