Biden Administration Rolls Out Blueprint to Decarbonize Transport
PRESIDENT BIDEN
(WMN)The Biden-Harris Administration has released the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization, an interagency framework of strategies and actions to remove all emissions from the transportation sector by 2050.
The document builds upon the memorandum of understanding Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency signed in September 2022, to formalize the country’s commitment to collaboration and coordination to implement a holistic decarbonization strategy.
The blueprint is expected to serve as a guide for future policymaking and research, development, demonstration, and deployment in the public and private sectors to transform how people and goods move throughout the United States.
The document stresses that transitioning to clean options by deploying zero-emission vehicles and fuels for cars, ships and airplanes is expected to drive the majority of emissions reductions. As disclosed, a successful transition will require full life-cycle emissions consideration of fuel solutions to be successful.
“The domestic transportation sector presents an enormous opportunity to drastically reduce emissions that accelerate climate change and reduce harmful pollution,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.
“DOE is prepared to implement this Blueprint alongside our partners within the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure all Americans feel the benefits of the clean transportation transition: good-paying manufacturing jobs, better air quality, and lower transportation costs.”
Maritime sector
When it comes to maritime transport, battery/electric power is seen as a solution of limited long-term potential, whereas hydrogen and sustainable liquid fuels have a much larger role to play to decarbonize the sector by 2050.
The transportation sector, which includes all modes of travel through land, air, and sea to move people and goods, accounts for a third of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Maritime activities, including shipping and recreational boating, account for 3% of transportation GHG emissions.
There are approximately 12 million privately owned recreational boats and 38,000 commercial vessels, such as tugboats, containerships, and ferries in the U.S. maritime sector, data from the U.S. Coast Guard shows. These vessels predominantly burn diesel and residual oil, and a small fraction uses liquified natural gas (LNG).
According to EPA estimates, half of U.S. marine vessel carbon emissions are from international shipping (including from fuel purchased in the U.S. for international voyages), roughly 30% is from domestic shipping, and the remaining 20% is from recreational boats. However, accurate accounting of maritime emissions is a very difficult endeavor.
That being said, emissions from multimodal equipment at ports largely contribute to poor air quality and environmental justice issues for millions of people living in near-port communities, many of which often consist of disadvantaged and underserved populations.
The maritime industry is international in scope, with the largest share of GHG emissions originating from international voyages. Therefore, effective decarbonization will require intergovernmental collaboration that aligns with industry and community needs.
During the 2021 Leaders Summit on Climate, Biden pledged to work with countries in the International Maritime Organization to revise the organization’s current decarbonization strategy and adopt a new goal of zero emissions (on a life-cycle basis) from the sector by 2050.
This would up the ante for the IMO, which has set out to cut CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2030, and at least halve its emissions by 2050, compared with 2008 levels.
The targets have been deemed rather unambitious by many progressive governments. However, achieving even these objectives will pose a major challenge for the shipping industry as it looks for ways of financing its transition and defining the path toward decarbonization.
Specifically, choosing the right technologies and developing alternative net-zero fuels for the maritime industry accompanied by the relevant infrastructure is expected to be a gargantuan task.
*Culled from The World Maritime News.
The document builds upon the memorandum of understanding Departments of Energy, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency signed in September 2022, to formalize the country’s commitment to collaboration and coordination to implement a holistic decarbonization strategy.
The blueprint is expected to serve as a guide for future policymaking and research, development, demonstration, and deployment in the public and private sectors to transform how people and goods move throughout the United States.
The document stresses that transitioning to clean options by deploying zero-emission vehicles and fuels for cars, ships and airplanes is expected to drive the majority of emissions reductions. As disclosed, a successful transition will require full life-cycle emissions consideration of fuel solutions to be successful.
“The domestic transportation sector presents an enormous opportunity to drastically reduce emissions that accelerate climate change and reduce harmful pollution,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.
“DOE is prepared to implement this Blueprint alongside our partners within the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure all Americans feel the benefits of the clean transportation transition: good-paying manufacturing jobs, better air quality, and lower transportation costs.”
Maritime sector
When it comes to maritime transport, battery/electric power is seen as a solution of limited long-term potential, whereas hydrogen and sustainable liquid fuels have a much larger role to play to decarbonize the sector by 2050.
The transportation sector, which includes all modes of travel through land, air, and sea to move people and goods, accounts for a third of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Maritime activities, including shipping and recreational boating, account for 3% of transportation GHG emissions.
There are approximately 12 million privately owned recreational boats and 38,000 commercial vessels, such as tugboats, containerships, and ferries in the U.S. maritime sector, data from the U.S. Coast Guard shows. These vessels predominantly burn diesel and residual oil, and a small fraction uses liquified natural gas (LNG).
According to EPA estimates, half of U.S. marine vessel carbon emissions are from international shipping (including from fuel purchased in the U.S. for international voyages), roughly 30% is from domestic shipping, and the remaining 20% is from recreational boats. However, accurate accounting of maritime emissions is a very difficult endeavor.
That being said, emissions from multimodal equipment at ports largely contribute to poor air quality and environmental justice issues for millions of people living in near-port communities, many of which often consist of disadvantaged and underserved populations.
The maritime industry is international in scope, with the largest share of GHG emissions originating from international voyages. Therefore, effective decarbonization will require intergovernmental collaboration that aligns with industry and community needs.
During the 2021 Leaders Summit on Climate, Biden pledged to work with countries in the International Maritime Organization to revise the organization’s current decarbonization strategy and adopt a new goal of zero emissions (on a life-cycle basis) from the sector by 2050.
This would up the ante for the IMO, which has set out to cut CO2 emissions by 40 percent by 2030, and at least halve its emissions by 2050, compared with 2008 levels.
The targets have been deemed rather unambitious by many progressive governments. However, achieving even these objectives will pose a major challenge for the shipping industry as it looks for ways of financing its transition and defining the path toward decarbonization.
Specifically, choosing the right technologies and developing alternative net-zero fuels for the maritime industry accompanied by the relevant infrastructure is expected to be a gargantuan task.
*Culled from The World Maritime News.
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