Emerging alternative ship fuels - focus on methanol and biofuels | February 2023

[@sergecamplan7802]

If the main objective is really zero emissions and not the all important cost, Why not consider the obvious solution which is nuclear propulsion and generation For Merchant ships?? The technology is there and well known, many nuclear powered aircraft carriers, ice breakers, submarines and even cargo ships (Savannah, Otto Han, ect..) have been operating at sea continuously for several decades without any radiologic pollution problems, even when catastrofically lost at sea (like the Thresher and Kursk). Designing, building and operating a nuclear powered container ship, tanker or bulk carrier has already been done long ago and should not be any problems in 2024, no new technology to figure out, its alredy there. Training officers and crew to operate a nuclear powered ship should not be more difficult (and probably easier) than training for navy officers and crews to operate their nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines or for Russian merchant marine officers and crews to operate their nuclear ice breakers, all of which have been no problems since the nineteen fifties and untill now. Of course, the price of a nuclear merchant vessel properly designed, built, manned, operated, certificated, insured, maintained, etc etc… will be very high and such a ship cannot be safely operated by an underqualified crew of 15 people….. However, contrary to the alternative fuels solutions which will anyway still continue to produce at best quite a lot of CO2 and other nasty emissions, a nuclear merchant ship will produce zero CO2, zero sulphur, zero NOX, zero particules, even zero water, in fact nothing at all and will not require any refueling for several years of continuous operation Furthermore, the global cost of nuclear fuel refill for a nuclear ship after several years of operation should be much cheaper than the cost of alternative and expensive fuels and other emission control chemicals and equipment used for the same operating time, no need for shore power while alongside, etc etc., after all, France has produced 70 to 80% of its total consumed power by nuclear plants and without using a drop of expensive fossil or green fuels during the last 40 years with a price almost 4 times lower than Germany In my humble opinion, if we are really serious about a quick and efficient route to zero carbon and emissions in general, nuclear is the only solution for the time being, on shore like on ships, which, contrary to planes and cars, can be easily built with nuclear propulsion and generation. This is the 2 cents of an old retired merchant marine captain and chief engineer

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