By Audrey Richardson for Great Lakes Echo.
Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Michigan News Connection reporting for Solutions Journalism-Public News Service Collaboration

A start up company recently got design approval to build a ship that moves cargo with sails rather than fuel.

The 330-foot-long, hydrogen cell powered sailing vessel is proposed by the Veer Group, a Bahamas-based company committed to zero carbon emissions. The design was approved by the American Bureau of Shipping.

"If there was a desire for this in the Great Lakes, it would just make me super happy to be able to fulfill that," said Veer CEO Danielle Doggett.

Whether such vessels will someday ply the Great Lakes is uncertain. But interest is high in decarbonizing shipping. Globally, shipping's 100,000 vessels are responsible for 3% of carbon emissions, according to Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller Center, a nonprofit research company committed to decarbonizing the maritime industry.

The Maritime Administration recently announced a study to explore low carbon options for shipping on the Great Lakes. The group, which includes the International Council on Clean Transportation, the American Bureau of Shipping and others, is looking at alternative fuels and power. The study will examine environmentally friendly fuel alternatives like biofuel and how to incorporate different power systems, like hydrogen fuel cells, into Great Lakes shipping, according to a press release.

Combustion engines have dominated the shipping industry since the 1930s. Veer is looking to bring sailing cargo back, Doggett said. The company seeks funding to begin an 18-month build and have two vessels sailing by 2024 and six by 2026.

Greenhouse gas emissions significantly contribute to climate change. They increase global temperatures, weather variability and air pollution. The Great Lakes have seen the effects of emissions from increased flooding, algal blooms and soil erosion.

"Veer sail ships in the Great Lakes would make a lot of sense," Doggett said.

One reason is that Veer's plans are consistent with the clean shipping goals of the U.S. and Canada, Doggett said. Another component for the Great Lakes is that the hydrogen fuel cells produce freshwater. It would be nice to excrete freshwater into a freshwater lake rather than into the ocean, Doggett said.

Growing up around the Great Lakes ships in Kingston, Ontario, inspired her field of work, she said.

Cleaner shipping comes at a crucial time for action, said University of Michigan Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Professor Matthew Collette.

In 2021, the U.S. joined a United Nations coalition to reach net zero emissions. The executive order emphasized the goal to reach net zero carbon emissions from federal operations by 2050. Reaching zero means replacing energy sources that produce man-made emissions with renewable energy sources, like solar and wind power.

"If we want to be at zero carbon by 2050, the decisions we make in the next five years are really going to shape what fuel will become dominant," Collette said.

Great Lakes vessels primarily see the impact of climate change through variability in lake levels, extreme cold weather and major weather events, said Jim Weakley, president of the Lake Carriers' Association, a group participating in the Maritime Administration study.

"If the levels are low, or lower than normal, for each inch of water we lose as much as 270 tons of cargo per vessel load," said Weakley, whose organization moves over 90 million tons of cargo throughout the Great Lakes each year.

The group wants to reduce the risk of climate change and is open to using Veer Group vessels once they are sailing, said Debra DiCianna, director of environmental affairs for the Lake Carriers' Association.

But using the existing ships on the Great Lakes would be better, she said.

"With our membership and their existing fleet, they are doing well at hauling the cargo that they need to," she said.

Veer's sailing vessels may be part of the solution, Collette said. But figuring out a balance of technologies and fuel is the way to a more sustainable future.

"We don't have a single winning technology today that everyone is pointing to and saying this is the way forward," he said.

While Veer's methods may not be in the cards for the Great Lakes for another few years, the idea of sail-assist to reduce emissions is relevant today, Collette said.

It is easier to update existing Great Lakes vessels by adding sails or replacing combustion engines with a lower sulfur level fuel cell, he said.

"Adding sails to existing ships might reduce emissions from 10% to 30%, he said. "But I think we are also going to have to figure out a zero carbon fuel source for them."

Alternative fuels that don't involve burning a hydrocarbon include methanol, ammonia or hydrogen, Collette said.

"I think there's a lot of work to be done on figuring out which one of those will be the most effective," he said.

Decarbonizing Great Lakes shipping may require multiple approaches.

"We need to make sure we are taking a holistic view of minimizing our impact on the Lakes and the people who live around the lakes," Collette said.


Audrey Richardson wrote this article for Great Lakes Echo.


get more stories like this via email

School buses are getting cleaner in Washington state after this year's legislative session.

Lawmakers in Olympia passed House Bill 1368, which will fund the purchase of zero emission school buses.

Rep. Tana Senn, D-Mercer Island, said the program is getting off the ground quickly.

"As we work towards that long-term goal of all new school buses being zero emission, we're kick-starting this year with $40 million in grants to school districts in overburdened communities," Senn explained.

Going forward, Senn noted school districts will have to purchase zero-emission vehicles once the total cost of ownership is equal to or lower than the cost of diesel vehicles. The state is leveraging the state's Climate Commitment Act resources to fund the transition of its 10,000 school buses.

Devin Denney, director of transportation for Highline Public Schools in King County, which already has electric school buses in its fleet, said he has driven the electric buses and talked about some of their benefits from a driver's perspective.

"You're not competing against that engine noise, the kids aren't competing against the engine noise," Denney observed. "It's a much quieter bus all the way around. The major advantage, of course, is that there's no tailpipe emissions with an electric bus, so our kids' health is better protected."

Senn emphasized health studies have shown there are negative health effects from diesel vehicles for kids, and it is easy to understand why.

"If you think about kids waiting to get on their bus in front of an elementary school and you have this line of buses idling, letting out diesel fumes right at the height of a little child, it becomes obvious that this is probably not the most healthy thing for our children," Senn added.


get more stories like this via email

Today, in honor of Earth Day, climate advocates are asking California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom to rally around a plan to put a $15 billion bond measure on the November ballot.

If passed, the bond measure would fund a range of climate resiliency measures.

Sam Hodder, president and CEO of the Save the Redwoods League, said March was the tenth month in a row to break monthly heat records.

"I think Earth Day is a terrific opportunity for the broader public to recognize how nature is critical for resilience, for our quality of life, for our mental and physical health, and for our communities more broadly," Hodder outlined.

Two similar bills to put a bond measure on the ballot are under consideration in Sacramento, Assembly Bill 1567 and Senate Bill 867, but they have been stalled since last summer. The bond would finance many programs, including some to restore wetlands that guard against sea-level rise, and to remove dead wood in forests to guard against mega-fires, which Hodder noted have killed 20% of the giant sequoias in recent years.

Opponents pointed out the state already faces a budget deficit and cannot afford to take on more debt. But only 5% of California's old-growth coastal redwoods remain, mostly due to aggressive logging many decades ago.

Hodder argued the giant trees can be critical ingredients in the fight against climate change because they trap so much carbon.

"Redwood forests sequester more carbon per acre than any other forest system in the world," Hodder emphasized. "We have the opportunity to transition the redwood forest from something that is vulnerable to climate change to something that is helping to solve and address the climate crisis."

Experts blame climate change for California's wild weather over the past few years, which has been marked by extreme drought, devastating fires and flooding rain.

A new report from the National Wildlife Federation warns that the effects of climate change in the Quad Cities, along the Iowa-Illinois border, will be severe.

But researchers got the public involved in studying to find ways to head off some of the most pressing concerns.

The report says climate change means a warmer, wetter future for the Quad Cities, which straddle the Mississippi River in Iowa and Illinois.

But rather than repeat what experts have already been saying about drastic flooding along the Big Muddy, Prairie Rivers Network River Health and Resiliency Organizer Nina Struss said researchers and Quad Cities residents brainstormed solutions to tackle the effects of climate change.

"Flooding and flash flooding were the top concerns," said Struss. "Extreme heat was also a big concern, as well as drought and other extreme weather events."

Researchers combined that information with hard science at the University of Illinois to create 3D models depicting what climate-induced flooding along the Mississippi could look like in the future.

The survey also asked people to identify which geographical areas and populations are most at risk from the effects of climate change, and worked with the community on solutions to mitigate some of them.

Struss said this research proposes what are known as nature-based solutions to combat the effects of climate change - restoring, preserving and even expanding existing ecosystems, like wetlands and tree canopies. But creating more eco-friendly infrastructure, too.

"Can we work to maybe have our pavements that we're putting in be more permeable, so that they can absorb that water and have that higher water-holding capacity?" said Struss. "Can we focus on areas to plant more native plants that have stronger root systems, versus ones that have shorter root systems, to help with that water-holding capacity?"

Struss said this research isn't a one-off. It will continue to change, she said, as the climate changes, the needs become more clear, and the effects more drastic.

She said progress in addressing climate change relies on more research, education and funding.




get more stories like this via email