COP 26: ACCELERATING EMISSIONS REDUCTION

Following an intense and fast-paced two weeks, COP26 ended last week. We now have the opportunity to reflect upon the impact that the many pledges and agreements made over the course of the conference will have.

Whilst there has been disappointment expressed at the pledges covering certain key areas pivotal to keeping global temperature rises under 1.5%, such as coal and deforestation, what cannot be argued is that there will be many benefits to come from the increased level of global attention on climate change that has resulted from the conference.

Within the marine sector, decarbonisation must continue to gather pace, with the industry currently contributing nearly 3% of global CO₂ emissions. There were a number of important pledges agreed during the conference, including the Clydebank Declaration which supports the establishment of zero emission shipping routes, and the Declaration on Zero Emission Shipping by 2050. However, immediate action is needed to help reduce emissions.

Quadrise’s proven MSAR® technology is able to play a significant and immediate role in the industry’s transition to a low carbon future through better efficiency, and in the case of bioMSAR™, novel biofuels, as well as offering reductions in other harmful emissions such as NOx, SOx and black soot.

bioMSAR™, our new lower carbon fuel, has demonstrated significant emissions reductions versus the most widely used shipping fuel, Heavy Fuel Oil. In recent testing, 26% lower CO₂ emissions were achieved, which extrapolated to a large container vessel would reduce CO₂ emissions by 23,000 tons on an annual basis, equivalent to the emissions from 11,000 average petrol cars.

A further agreement reached during COP 26 was the Global Methane Pledge, a pledge to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas, which can be orders of magnitude more warming than CO₂. A further benefit of both MSAR® and bioMSAR™, aside from their emissions reductions, is that use of these fuels alleviates the risk of methane slip versus other low carbon fuel alternatives such as LNG. These critical benefits can provide tangible and immediate solutions for shipping companies looking to reduce their emissions as part of decarbonisation efforts. We are currently progressing plans with MSC for trials of bioMSAR™ and MSAR® on board their vessels, as outlined in MSC’s most recent Sustainability Report, and continue to hold discussions with other shipping companies.

The COP26 headlines were grabbed by nations making pledges and commitments, but ultimately it is innovative and determined companies and individuals that will develop the technologies and make the tough decisions needed to create a cleaner, more sustainable future. Quadrise are enormously encouraged by the renewed sense of urgency that COP26 has brought to the marine sector and we look forward to demonstrating how bioMSAR™ and MSAR® can play a key part in that journey.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0