Rapid battery cost declines accelerate the prospects of all-electric interregional container shipping

Abstract

International maritime shipping—powered by heavy fuel oil—is a major contributor to global CO2, SO2, and NOx emissions. The direct electrification of maritime vessels has been underexplored as a low-emission option despite its considerable efficiency advantage over electrofuels. Past studies on ship electrification have relied on outdated assumptions on battery cost, energy density values and available on-board space. We show that at battery prices of US$100 kWh−1 the electrification of intraregional trade routes of less than 1,500 km is economical, with minimal impact to ship carrying capacity. Including the environmental costs increases the economical range to 5,000 km. If batteries achieve a US$50 kWh−1 price point, the economical range nearly doubles. We describe a pathway for the battery electrification of containerships within this decade that electrifies over 40% of global containership traffic, reduces CO2 emissions by 14% for US-based vessels, and mitigates the health impacts of air pollution on coastal communities.

Leveraging rail-based mobile storage to increase grid reliability in the face of climate uncertainty

“…14,40 Oceangoing container ships can cost-effectively be powered with containerized battery systems if they charge every 1,500 km. 41 No technical barriers prevent RMES from being utilized in the power sector. In fact, analogous business models exist in the US electric school bus sector 42 and the European maritime sector, which is embarking on a multi-stakeholder pilot demonstration of the feasibility of swappable battery containers for oceangoing container vessels.…”

State of Climate Action 2022

“…32. Battery electric options are also in development for short-distance maritime shipping and travel (Kersey et al 2022) but are not included in this indicator. Biofuels such as biomethanol may provide some CO 2 reductions compared to traditional heavy fuel oil or marine diesel oil, but do not meet the definition of zero-emission fuels.…”

Optimal fuel supply of green ammonia to decarbonise global shipping

“…The shipping industry faces considerable hurdles to achieve the decarbonisation targets set, in particular given long asset lifetimes, the price gap between HFO and green fuel options, a large number of independent stakeholders which will need to coordinate (e.g. engine manufactures, ports, carriers, production facilities, investors) [4][5][6][7]. As such, there is considerable uncertainty in terms of the optimal path to decarbonise the maritime sector relating to the future energy fuel mix and the infrastructure necessary to facilitate this new fuel supply-chain [8][9][10].…”