The energy needed to deliver energy has always been a concern for societies. ‘All our societies require enormous flows of high-quality energy just to sustain, let alone raise, their complexity and order (to keep themselves
Compare these numbers with ships carrying what has been called the ‘greatest invention of the 20th century’ and an icon of uniformity and globalization: the container. The largest container ships measure 400 m in length and over 12 m in depth and can carry 15,500 containers of 36 m3 content or 56,2000 m3 of freight. Their normal speed is 46 km/hr, so the kinetic energy of only the freight is equivalent to 46 GJ at an average freight density of 1,000 kg/m3. With a 10 percent speed reduction, fuel use drops with a quarter, which means about 250,000 ton/yr less of CO2-emissions. The next round of upscaling is to ships of 18,000 containers, which are expected to be profitable because they carry more freight but at lower speed. The builders claim a further reduction in CO2-emission, to 3 grams per ton-km of freight. At present, Rotterdam Harbour can handle 100,000 containers/week and is among the few harbours that are deep enough for such ships (NRC 18 March 2011). The trend is an even larger scale of operations in the name of lower cost and lower emissions.
Literature
Homer-Dixon, T. (2006). The upside of down: Catastrophe, creativity, and the renewal of civilization. Island Press, Washington
Leave A Comment