Stories

Inspiring examples on maritime sustainability for shipowners and technology suppliers

Making the Impossible Possible

This blog sketches a vision on how to convert the largest crane vessel in the world - Sleipnir - owned by Heerema Marine Contractors, to a zero-emission vessel. Several promising carbon reduction measures are combined which are technically viable and based on matured technology including electrification and BES, solar panels, synthetic fuels, CCS and possibly hydrogen combustion.

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Carbon Capture Vincent Doedee Carbon Capture Vincent Doedee

The Truth about Capturing CO2

Carbon capture and storage is often brought up as a solution to climate change, but do we really need it, how much of an impact could it really make, and is it in fact just an excuse to keep burning fossil fuels, letting heavy polluting industries off the hook? It's time to find out the truth.

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Full Electric, Battery Hybrid Vincent Doedee Full Electric, Battery Hybrid Vincent Doedee

Recycling vehicle batteries

Helen Czerski went to Wendeburg in Germany to see if it really is possible to recycle the materials in vehicle batteries. She shows how this new and rapidly growing industry is developing and coming up with some interesting results, with lithium-iron batteries being economically recycled up to 70% (91% including graphite). Please send this to all the people you know who say 'what about when we throw all these fancy batteries into landfill.

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Full Electric, Battery Hybrid Vincent Doedee Full Electric, Battery Hybrid Vincent Doedee

The Trouble with Cobalt by Joe Scott

Electric cars have a dark secret - cobalt. The element that is in almost all lithium-ion batteries is often considered a conflict mineral because half of all cobalt reserves are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a troubled region with over a century of instability. But is it as bad as the anti-EV crowd has led us to believe? What's the reality of the situation, and what are some of the solutions?

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Decarbonizer, Battery Hybrid, Offshore Vincent Doedee Decarbonizer, Battery Hybrid, Offshore Vincent Doedee

Amazing Power of North Sea Giant

North Sea Giant is amongst the largest and most advanced subsea construction vessels ever built. North Sea Giant is an efficient multi-purpose vessel with supreme deck and crane capacity, alongside a unique power system. Her propellers and thrusters are tailor made for delivering a wide variety of demanding marine operations in deep and ultradeep waters.

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Battery Hybrid, Decarbonizer, Offshore Vincent Doedee Battery Hybrid, Decarbonizer, Offshore Vincent Doedee

How the North Sea Giant saves two million liters of diesel every year

The North Sea Giant saves two million liters of diesel every year. It has installed three battery packs and a distribution system from Wärtsilä, which will dramatically reduce fuel consumption. The North Sea Giant is one of the world's largest construction ships, and was the first vessel in its class to have a hybrid system installed on board.

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Solar PV, Hydrogen, Emissions Vincent Doedee Solar PV, Hydrogen, Emissions Vincent Doedee

The Case for Floating Solar

People think we need energy. Truth is, we do not. We need heating, lighting and transportation. At the right place, on the right time. Generating energy is not the issue, the trick is how to transform it into useful energy and store it. So how can we combine the cheapest form of energy generation with energy storage? What is the best place to generate gigantic, ridiculous amounts of energy? As in tenths of gigawatts, the size of small countries? In the desert with solar energy? Think again.

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LFP Battery Fire Hazard by FM Global

This video shows the potential fire hazard of an 83 kWh Energy Storage System comprised of Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries. The ESS had an overall electrical capacity of 83 kWh and ≥ 95% state-of-charge. No protection systems were active. Three heaters plus a propane pilot flame were installed to ensure vent gas ignition (!). The results from this test may not be representative of other LFP based systems.

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Carbon Capture, Emissions Vincent Doedee Carbon Capture, Emissions Vincent Doedee

Northern Lights CCS

According to Equinor, carbon capture and storage will be vital to reach the global climate goals of the Paris Agreement. They are very pleased that the Northern Lights partners and leading European companies have taken the first steps to realize a European CO2 transport and storage system! In simple terms, carbon capture and storage deals with removing CO2 from emission sources and storing it permanently underground, so that it is not released to the atmosphere.

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Decarbonizer, Battery Hybrid, Offshore Vincent Doedee Decarbonizer, Battery Hybrid, Offshore Vincent Doedee

Transocean Spitsbergen goes Hybrid

In April 2019, the Transocean Spitsbergen successfully and sagely installed an electric Energy Storage System (ESS) of 5.6 [MW] on-board. This allowed the semi-submersible drillship to run in hybrid mode during DP3, reducing fuel consumption by about 15%. Economic incentives were provided in the fuel-clause and by the Norwegian NOx Fund.

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Vincent Doedee Vincent Doedee

Blue Ocean Event : Game Over?

From Just have a Think. A Blue Ocean Event, or Ice-Free Arctic, is the source of almost fever pitch speculation in the climate science world. The consequences of the disappearance of sea ice from the arctic ocean, however briefly, at the end of a summer melt season some time in the not too distant future, are potentially very ominous for the way we organise our human socio-economic structures today.

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