In a six-month engagement Cross Product provided research and technical writing services to the International Council on Clean Transportation. In this work, global historical weather data was utilized to inform models of potential energy savings for vessels en-route on trans-oceanic/trans-lake voyages.
Here are some of the example figures showing insights we helped to create for our client:
The key findings from the research are that bulk-carrier vessels can save up to 7% of their fuel burn, on average, by utilizing wind-assist technology (Flettner rotor sails). Furthermore, these ships then have a better chance of completing voyages without burning any fossil fuel (like Heavy Fuel Oil); when combining wind-assist with compressed liquid-hydrogen (LH2) power systems, it is possible to complete an entire voyage using only renewable energy.
The final working paper is expected to be released sometime in July 2021. Be on the lookout!