Approximately 80 percent of kilometres that are covered in the worldwide freight transportation are accounted for by shipping, a means of transport that is also booming in the tourism sector. But sea faring has a drawback: 90 percent of big ships are fuelled with heavy oil, making these large ships the biggest some of the biggest emittents, according to the UN.

The Large Engines Competence Center (LEC) in Graz, Austria, is a worldwide leader in the effort to find environmentally friendly alternatives. As reported by trend.at, the LEC has been granted the Europe-wide research project HyMethShip, which has been funded with 9,2 million Euros. Beside the LEC and the Graz University of Technology the consortium is made up of scientific partners from six EU member states, a shipping company, and a shipyard. Its target is a drastic emission reduction while also increasing energy efficiency.

“The innovation potential and the extent, to which the project surpasses the current state of the art of technology is outstanding. HyMethShip optimizes and uses technologies which to date have never been used in shipping and which have the potential of eliminating sulphur and CO2 emissions. – Andreas Wimmer, CEO and scientific director of the LEC

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