Rolls Royce and UCL research energy efficient ships

Britain once ruled the sea – and its merchant fleet could be “greened” if new research is successful. Rolls Royce is helping UCL with research on improving the energy efficiency […]

Britain once ruled the sea – and its merchant fleet could be “greened” if new research is successful. Rolls Royce is helping UCL with research on improving the energy efficiency of Britain’s shipping industry.

The £2million project at the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) is hoping to improve ships’ efficiency by more than 30%. The work builds on a Low Carbon Shipping project led by UCL. Engineers and academics are studying vessels typically used to transport goods to, from and around the UK coastline.

Shipping currently contributes £26.5bn to UK GDP according to the UK Chamber of Shipping and the Committee on Climate Change found it could account for as much as 11% of Britain’s total greenhouse gases by 2050 unless ships improve their efficiency.

David Clarke, chief executive of the ETI said efficient ships “should yield cost advantages for operators” as well as achieving emissions cuts in fleets.

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