Six months ago, the Pyxis Ocean set sail from China to Brazil fitted with WindWings, giant sails that are designed to reduce the carbon emissions of cargo ships.
WindWings, made from the same material as wind turbine blades, were designed to cut fuel consumption, and the carbon footprint, of the shipping industry.
Cargill, the company that chartered the vessel, hopes the new technology will steer the industry toward a greener future. Jan Deielman, president of Cargill’s Ocean Transportation business, believes “technologies that harness the wind could be an important, cost-effective way to reach our decarbonization goals.”
“We believe technologies that harness the wind could be an important, cost-effective way to achieve our decarbonization goals in the short, medium, and long-term,” said Jan Dieleman.
The Pyxis Ocean’s maiden voyage was the first real-world test of WindWings and the potential impact a return to more traditional methods could make on the environment.
Carbon Savings
During its voyage, the Pyxis Ocean used an average of three tonnes less fuel each day. With that level of fuel reduction, the ship decreased its C02 emissions by 11.2 tonnes daily. If the voyage had gone on for a full year, the emissions saved would be equivalent to removing 480 cars from the road.
These results show major promise in the benefits of wind-assisted technologies, especially seeing as the Pyxis Ocean was only fitted with two WindWings but the manufacturer, BAR Technologies, anticipates most vessels to be fitted with three wings. With three wings, fuel and emissions reductions would be increased by a factor of 1.5.
For an industry that’s responsible for an estimated 837 million tonnes of C02 a year, or 2.1% of total global emissions, the WindWings could be the first real step to decarbonizing the international shipping industry.
What could this mean for the shipping industry?
Last year, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) vowed to adopt strategies that would reduce carbon emissions from the shipping industry by at least 40% by 2030.
BAR Technologies’ head, John Cooper, is hopeful that the findings of the Pyxis Ocean will push shipping companies to adopt the sails and start moving towards carbon-friendly processes. One major motivating factor that he sees is the savings on fuel since wind-powered ships use significantly less of it. He predicts that by 2025, half of new-build ships will be ordered with some form of wind propulsion.
However, ships don’t have to be new to take advantage of the wind; the Pyxis Ocean was not originally built with WindWings and had them retrofitted for the trial. This cuts down costs even further for companies looking to reduce their footprint and presents a solution that can be applied now while research is still being done on zero-carbon fuels.
Dr. Simon Bullock, shipping researcher at the Tyndall Centre of the University of Manchester, says that since the development of cleaner fuels will take time to emerge and be adopted by the industry, “we have to throw everything at operational measures on existing ships”, such as retrofitting them with wind technologies.
However, there isn’t one clear decarbonization pathway for the shipping industry, due to its scale and the diversity of the world shipping fleet. That means there won’t be one single solution, and companies must invest in the research and development of wind technology, zero-carbon fuels, and other solutions that will help make every voyage as efficient as possible.
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Colleen Douglas
Senior Marketing Coordinator
Executive Platforms
Colleen joined the Executive Platforms team in May of 2022. She has five years of experience in event marketing, with an emphasis on copywriting and digital strategies.
Colleen has a BA Honours in Business Communications from Brock University and a Diploma in Digital Media Marketing from George Brown College.