Sustainable ship cruises remain a distant dream, analysis finds
Clean Energy Wire
The cruise industry has made little progress towards becoming more climate friendly, according to an analysis by German NGO Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU). “The cruise industry still has a long way to go before the environment and climate no longer suffer,” the organisation said, pointing to the industry’s almost exclusive use of fossil fuels as the main obstacle.
For its annual cruise ranking, NABU examined efforts made by operators to cut emissions, with a particular focus on the German cruise market. “Although the environmental and climate impact per passenger is trending slightly downward, the industry is still not implementing sufficient measures to offset the growth in passenger numbers,” NABU said, adding that global passenger numbers are expected to grow from 35 million in 2024 to 41 million by 2040.
Shipping companies showed little sign of planning to meet their net-zero targets before 2050, the NGO concluded. It criticised that cruise operators’ existing measures to increase efficiency are not enough. “The decisive lever for decarbonisation, the switch to green e-fuels, is still missing.”
“Instead, most companies continue to rely on heavy fuel oil and marine diesel or on pseudo-solutions, such as fossil LNG and biogenic fuels, whose climate balance is questionable. Truly courageous investments in green e-fuels, for example through new methanol-capable ships, have been the exception so far,” NABU said.
Researchers from the Institute of Maritime Energy Systems at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) said earlier this year that climate-neutral industrial alcohol made with renewable electricity appears to be the most suitable synthetic fuel to decarbonise international shipping. Switching to green methanol could reduce CO2 emissions by 96 percent over the entire life cycle of ships, the researchers said.
Germany plans to invest 400 million euros in climate-friendly shipping and ports over the next four years as part of its Climate and Transformation Fund (CTF). “The requirements for the shipping industry have massively changed in the past years,” the transport ministry said, arguing that the effects of the energy transition force the country’s shipping sector to adapt to remain competitive internationally.
