Marketplace®

Daily business news and economic stories
Dec 12, 2018

Sails made global shipping possible. Can they make it greener?

The United Nations’ International Maritime Organization is committed to cutting shipping emissions in half by 2050. That matters because shipping moves 90 percent of global trade. Right now, if shipping were a country, its emissions would rank sixth in the world. Part of the solution will be tech. Marketplace’s Jed Kim talks with James Corbett, a professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware, about high-tech sails. And, no, these aren’t the flapping sheets you’re thinking of. Corbett mentioned one solution being developed in Japan — a rigid surface covered with solar panels. Today’s show is sponsored by Colgate University and Logi Analytics.

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The United Nations’ International Maritime Organization is committed to cutting shipping emissions in half by 2050. That matters because shipping moves 90 percent of global trade. Right now, if shipping were a country, its emissions would rank sixth in the world. Part of the solution will be tech. Marketplace’s Jed Kim talks with James Corbett, a professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware, about high-tech sails. And, no, these aren’t the flapping sheets you’re thinking of. Corbett mentioned one solution being developed in Japan — a rigid surface covered with solar panels.

Today’s show is sponsored by Colgate University and Logi Analytics.

Sails made global shipping possible. Can they make it greener?