World’s first electric container barges

The world’s first electric container barges will soon sail from European ports according to the Guardian.

The world’s first fully electric, emission-free and potentially crewless container barges are to operate from the ports of Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam from summer 2018. The vessels, designed to fit beneath bridges as they transport their goods around the inland waterways of Belgium and the Netherlands, are expected to vastly reduce the use of diesel-powered trucks for moving freight. Dubbed the “Tesla of the canals”, their electric motors will be driven by 20-foot batteries, charged on shore by the carbon-free energy provider Eneco.

The barges are designed to operate without any crew, although the vessels will be manned in their first period of operation as new infrastructure is erected around some of the busiest inland waterways in Europe. About 23,000 trucks, mainly running on diesel, are expected to be removed from the roads as a result. The barges are being developed by Port Liner, which believes it could produce about 500 barges a year to revolutionise the freight industry, although the electric motors and batteries could also be retrofitted into older boats. The barges would be the first in the world to sail on carbon-neutral batteries and only the low bridges in the low countries prevent them from being loaded with more goods.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/24/worlds-first-electri...

Shipping

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Editorial: Europe should decarbonise its economy by 2030

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Black carbon emissions from global shipping

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Denmark to expose sulphur-cheating ships

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IMO moves to ban carriage of high-sulphur marine fuel

Implementing the global lower-sulphur fuel requirement will reduce ship emissions related to premature mortality and morbidity by 34 and 54 per cent, respectively.

Development of Kyoto GHG emissions in Europe 1990 to 2015

Greenhouse gas emissions in Europe are falling rapidly in some countries and not at all in others. The great variation geographically and over time show that much more can be done.

Climate forcers that increase or decrease warming

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Europeans expect to cut back on meat

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Poland and Bulgaria challenge EU air pollution law

Threat to annul new emission limits for coal-fired power plants that could save more than 20,000 lives every year.

Courts require action to clear the air

Member states that fail to protect people’s health will – eventually – end up in court, and persistent failure is likely to become very, very costly.

Greenwashing of farm payments

The EU spends 12 billion euro a year on “greening” – a reform that is intended to mainstream environmental practices in agriculture but delivers close to nothing.

Possible to phase out the climate impact of road traffic in 15 years

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The Nordic-Baltic Region can be decarbonised by 2030

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Ecosystems hit by air pollutant fallout

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Sustainably feeding the Nordics

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The communal deficits of German lignite usage

For a successful phase-out of coal in Germany, it is important to understand the dependence of mining and industrial communities on lignite.

World’s first electric container barges

In this issue

Below 1.5 – to Stay Alive

Editorial: Europe should decarbonise its economy by 2030

Black carbon emissions from global shipping

Denmark to expose sulphur-cheating ships

IMO moves to ban carriage of high-sulphur marine fuel

Development of Kyoto GHG emissions in Europe 1990 to 2015

Climate forcers that increase or decrease warming

Europeans expect to cut back on meat

Poland and Bulgaria challenge EU air pollution law

Courts require action to clear the air

Greenwashing of farm payments

Possible to phase out the climate impact of road traffic in 15 years

The Nordic-Baltic Region can be decarbonised by 2030

Ecosystems hit by air pollutant fallout

Sustainably feeding the Nordics

The communal deficits of German lignite usage

In Breif

Evolution of ship emissions in China

Cruise ships pollute Copenhagen’s summer air

World’s biggest electric cargo ship

World’s first electric container barges

Towards a pollution-free planet

Low levels of PM linked with premature death

French incentives for less-polluting cars and heating systems

Call to halve meat and dairy consumption

100% renewables more cost effective than fossils

Publications

Food for Thought

Northern forests, climate change and the UNFCCC

EU climate targets aligned with the Paris agreement’s 1.5°C objective

Baltic Sea Offshore Wind Collaborative-Learning project

Air pollution in Europe and children’s health

Climate Change: A Himalayan Odessey

No further discussion needed. The agreed global goal is to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C

Fossil-free electricity 2021

What we do

Air pollution

Climate Change

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