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Aleutian Islands touted as key refuelling hub on green transpacific corridor

The Washington DC-based International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has issued a new report in which it suggests the Aleutian Islands off Alaska could become a hydrogen fuelling hub for shipping. The non-profit suggests the development could serve as an enabler in nascent plans to create a green corridor, connecting the United States and China, to run on zero-emission fuels.

Shanghai, the world’s largest container port, has recently announced plans to work on a green corridor concept to America’s twin top gateways, Los Angeles and Long Beach. 

However, zero-emission marine fuels, such as renewably produced hydrogen, have a more limited range than traditional fossil fuels. This means that an additional refuelling port will be required for a long route to be feasible. The Aleutian Islands are a natural halfway point for the transpacific shipping corridor and were identified in a previous paper from the ICCT as strategic in the feasibility of a green containership corridor.

“These results are particularly encouraging because Alaska has abundant potential to generate renewable energy that could be leveraged for renewable marine fuel production,” said Elise Georgeff, associate researcher at ICCT and the study’s lead author. “Beyond a cleaner shipping fleet, a market for marine hydrogen at Aleutian Islands ports could help local Indigenous communities by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and contributing to economic development.”

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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