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Closing the loop with textiles

Kris Barber, owner of Dubai company DGrade, has been working in textiles most of his career, but it was his love of surfing that fueled a desire to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. He just never guessed he’d end up wearing it.

Barber, a U.K. native, over time noticed an increase in plastic waste in the oceans. This is why he decided to make a shift from full-time textile production to sustainable textiles.

“When I came across the technology to convert plastic bottles into clothing, I began to see that recycling could be a significant way to decrease plastic pollution and also provide a sustainable solution for textile production,” he tells KUST Review. He also began organizing beach clean-ups and recycling drives to get his community involved.

CAPTION: Kris Barber IMAGE: DGrade CEO

It was in 2010 when Barber moved with his wife to Dubai and discovered there were no options for sustainably made clothing that he started DGrade.

“When I came across the technology to convert plastic bottles into clothing, I began to see that recycling could be a significant way to decrease plastic pollution and also provide a sustainable solution for textile production,” he tells KUST Review.

He also began organizing beach clean-ups and recycling drives to get his community involved.

“At that time there was very little interest in recycling and sustainability in general, but I knew the market would shift,” he says. “I saw there was a gap in the market for sustainable clothing supply and a necessity for plastic recycling programs.”

DGrade, an eco-clothing company based in Dubai, developed its trademarked Greenspun yarn, in which plastic water bottles are converted into polyester yarn. The plastic flakes are used to create yarn and ultimately fabrics. The Greenspun yarn produces 55 percent fewer carbon emissions, uses 50 percent less energy and 20 percent less water and doesn’t require any oil compared with making conventional polyester yarn.

CAPTION: DGrade recycling factory IMAGE: DGrade

“We can produce more than 200 types of fabric including jersey, quick-dry, twill and denim to make customized clothing and accessories for our (business-to-business) customers.

We manage this production process through our supply-chain partners,” Barber tells KUST Review.

While many other companies around the world are creating fabric out of plastic and those fabrics are being used by household brands such as Nike and Patagonia to create product, DGrade offers full-service partnerships to its business-to-business clients. This means DGrade does it all — from placing the bins to collecting plastic to producing specific clothing items for businesses and then offering advice on possible next phases for the items — thereby assisting its clients with closed-loop recycling.
Closed-loop recycling is the process of collecting goods and reprocessing or recycling them into new, usable products.

Once the clothing is no longer wearable, DGrade encourages its partners to take advantage of clothing charity bins placed around the city. The discarded clothing is passed on to communities, or if not in good enough condition to be re-worn, is shredded and used as filling for pillows and mattresses or made into carpets.

One of DGrade’s partners is YAS Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. DGrade collects used water bottles from the venue and events and recycles them at the DGrade Recycling Factory. DGrade also supplies uniforms made from recycled plastic bottles for the Yas Marina Circuit team. This helps the track lower its carbon footprint. DGrade also has a stand set up in the sustainability area during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix where it can educate the public about closed-loop recycling.

“Through this partnership, Yas Marina Circuit can demonstrate that they divert more than 50,000 plastic bottles from landfill during the Formula 1 event, saving energy, water and carbon emissions,” he says. Every Greenspun T-shirt created saves 25 plastic bottles from landfills, he says.

Though DGrade participates in initiatives like the Yas Marina’s, there is still a lot to be done to reduce plastic waste. In the UAE alone, 4 billion plastic water bottles are manufactured annually, and less than 8 percent are recycled — that means 320 million water bottles end up in landfills every year. Of these, the DGrade Recycling Factory managed to repurpose 60 million in the first six months of 2022. This is due in part because of its Simply Bottles program.

Simply Bottles works with schools and communities to ensure waste made with Type 1 plastic — typically used for water, juice or food containers — is recycled. Participants can choose their level of involvement ranging from collecting plastic to learning about the impact of plastic waste on the environment. More than 250 schools across the UAE participate in the program. Simply Bottles also works with universities, events, hotels and corporations — like Yas Marina Circuit.

CAPTION: Used bottles are collected, washed and shredded; the plastic flakes are heated and turned into polyester fibers; the fiber is spun into yarn; and finally the yarn is spun to make clothing and accessories IMAGE: Shutterstock

“We believe that DGrade can and will play a significant role in helping the UAE government reach their waste and recycling goals for 2030 by facilitating collection and raising awareness of plastic recycling and a closed loop through our Simply Bottles program,” Barber says.

DGrade has been recognized by the Gulf region on numerous occasions. Awards include Best Sustainability Education or Awareness Program (the Gulf Sustainability Awards); silver in Sustainable Project of the Year (Prime Awards Middle East and Africa); and Most Innovative Technology Product for its Greenspun Yarn (International Business Magazine).

What’s next for DGrade?

After providing official uniforms for the UAE hosted COP28 in November 2023, it plans to assist companies with green initiatives. This includes working with them to recycle plastic bottles, delivering employee education and engaging activities to their teams through its Simply Bottles program, as well as supplying sustainably made uniforms

“DGrade is committed to combating pollution by providing sustainable solutions for plastic and textiles. We do our utmost to contribute to a sustainable future every day through our actions and business model. However we also believe that collaboration and commitment from businesses, government and communities is essential to ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come,” Barber says.

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Dubai film festival celebrates AI

One of the longest strikes in Hollywood history ended recently with a victory for writers and actors who won protections against job-threatening uses of artificial intelligence in the filmmaking process. But Expo City Dubai is embracing the creative potential of the tool with its inaugural Artificial Intelligence Film Festival.

“Through the AI film festival, we are exploring the relationship between creativity and technology, between human ingenuity and artificial intelligence. We recognize that AI plays a role in supporting the understanding, emotional depth and imagination that artists exclusively possess,” says Magd Zoroob, senior vice president of Future Technologies, Expo City Dubai.

“AI opens the door to enthusiasts who may have previously found the industry inaccessible by giving them the tools to supplement and enhance their creativity,” Zoroob adds.

The film festival jury reviewed entries from around the world and narrowed the list to 10 finalists. Members of the public are invited to weigh in on the shortlisted films for a People’s Choice award.

In addition to showcasing finished films, the festival also hosts workshops for aspiring filmmakers as well as discussions about ethical uses of the technology, Zoroob says.

“We are looking for creators who strike a balance and use AI tools to enhance their creativity, bringing it to life in new and exciting ways, while also respecting copyright laws and regulations,” he adds.

Finalists are:

“Buyer Beware” by Christian Fleischer (Germany): In a last-ditch attempt to save his career, a dodgy salesman tries to sell the Earth to aliens, but they refuse his offer, triggering an eruptive event to save humanity.
“The Enfilade of Worlds” by Artem Golenkov (UAE): An exploration of the lives of those who have traveled between worlds – eternal wanderers who have witnessed wonders but lost their homes and identities along the way.
“The Final Ascent” by Emad Khalid (Pakistan): After surviving an avalanche, a lone mountaineer hears a mysterious voice guiding him to the summit.
“My Word” by Carme Puche Moré (Spain): Who defines who we are? What happens when images betray our words? How do we survive in a world that constantly misunderstands us? Follow in the steps of a woman on a journey to define herself.
“One More Pumpkin” by Hansl von Kwon (Republic of Korea): An elderly couple farming pumpkins in a rural Korean village are rumoured to have lived more than 200 years. Once the messengers of death hear about this, they visit the couple to investigate.
“Oracle” by Thibaud and Claire Zamora (France): Dive into the adventures of the Oracle’s guardians as we follow three inseparable friends on their perilous journey, where each step unveils a secret world with challenges to overcome.
“PLSTC” by Laen Sanches (Netherlands): Welcome to the world of PLSTC, an undersea dystopia that submerges you in the disturbing reality of plastic pollution in our oceans. The film confronts the devastating consequences of our habits on marine life.
“The Sad Clown Pagliacci” by Alessandro Carnevale (Switzerland): A sad clown born and raised in a traveling circus decides to leave and follow his dreams.
“The Seed” by Daniel Ortiz (Spain): A solitary man, haunted by a pervasive sense of detachment, shares his troubles with an attentive bartender and seeks solace and answers from his psychiatrist and an enigmatic woman.
“TRETA” by Francesco Siro (Italy): A dreamy fable, full of symbolism, where man is unconsciously controlled by an evil jester, while in another mysterious dimension an advanced civilization of sentient beings lines up for battle.

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony Feb. 28 at Expo City Dubai. Film fans can view the finalists and vote here.

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Making space for women

The UAE is celebrating International Women’s Day a little early this year with news of the first female Emirati astronaut set to graduate from NASA.

Nora Al Matrooshi, NASA class of 2023, will graduate in March 2024 alongside her Emirati counterpart Mohammed Al Mulla, the National reports. The ceremony will take place in Houston, Texas.

Al Matrooshi, an engineer formerly of the National Petroleum Construction Co., was one of two candidates chosen from over 4,000 applicants for the 2021 NASA training program.

When she was initially selected, Al Matrooshi in a media conference said she was inspired to reach for the stars by one of her teachers who would set up a tent in the classroom and ask the students to try to imagine it was a spacecraft en route to the moon.

In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova of Russia became the first woman in space, but the next wasn’t until two decades later.

In 2020, Phys.org reported that only 11.5 percent of the 566 people who have gone to space were women, and the United Nations Space4Women program reports that 20-22 percent of the space workforce is women – virtually unchanged from what it was 30 years ago.

But the flight crews are increasing in female numbers and Al Matrooshi aims to be an inspiration for other young women: “If I can do it, then you can do it too. If no one has done it yet, then you just go ahead and be the first,” she said in a 2021 interview with The National.

This brings the Emirati astronaut count to four as the UAE space program grows and continues to rack up firsts.

CAPTION: International Space Station IMAGE: NASA

The first Emirati astronaut, Hazza al Mansouri, spent eight days aboard the International Space Station in 2022, followed by Sultan Al Neyadi with a six-month stay in 2023 and first Arab space walk.

Al Matrooshi’s graduation coincides with the most recent advancement in the UAE’s space program – a ticket to the moon.

The UAE recently agreed to provide NASA with an airlock for the Gateway lunar station, which will serve as an exchange center for crew and science payloads. The deal comes with UAE access to the station and a lunar mission. The deal comes with UAE access to the station and a lunar mission.

No decisions have been made about which UAE astronauts will be selected for the first UAE lunar mission.

According to NASA, the Lunar Gateway will record its first mission no sooner than 2028.

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Ice, ice baby

Life on planet Earth needs water. Fresh water.

Water scarcity affects one-third of the world’s population, approximately 2.3 billion people, with this water crisis tipped to become more acute over the next 50 years as the global population increases.

Yet water covers nearly three-quarters of the planet. It’s salty and unpotable, but a practical, economically viable desalination process could be the answer to our collective thirst.

Credit: Anas AlBounni-KUST Review

The most popular method of desalination is reverse osmosis, where large quantities of seawater are pushed through a semipermeable membrane to remove the salt from the water. Although an effective means to sieve through and catch the salt and other impurities, this is a high-pressure, high-cost process requiring robust pumping and expensive pretreatment. It’s energy-hungry, and while the process has steadily improved and evolved, there are systemic problems, including polluting chemicals, membrane fouling, capacity limitations and expensive construction materials.

Freeze desalination, on the other hand, is a natural process: Ice made from saltwater is salt-free.

Isam Janajreh, professor of mechanical engineering at Khalifa University’s Center for Membranes and Advanced Water Technology, says freeze desalination technology has the potential to avoid common desalination challenges: “Desalination is the solution for water security in regions with insufficient resources but this comes at a high energy cost. Freeze desalination is emerging as an attractive low-energy and less corrosive alternative to providing fresh water.”

Freeze and repeat

The process is simple: Partially freeze the water, during which ice crystals form and grow, displacing impurities into the remaining brine solution. Separate the ice blocks from the brine, wash them off, and melt them back down again to provide clean water.

The salty brine can then be frozen again, forming more ice and another more concentrated brine solution. As the salinity increases, the freezing point dips until it reaches the point where salt crystallizes simultaneously with ice.

So far, however, the process has been limited to laboratories and small pilot plants. Janajreh says this is due to the incurred capital cost and the complex operation of separating the ice and melting it.

“The process of salt rejection during the process is still far from being completely understood, especially when the parameters change. One big challenge is salt entrapment between the ice crystals making a super salty saltwater pocket in the ice. This requires further treatment and recrystallizing, which just raises operating costs.”

Abdul Najim, of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, says this is the essential requirement for developing the technology — understanding the process of crystal growth to avoid the saltwater pockets.

“This is a process difficult to study analytically. Numerical models can enable the analysis and visualization of different transport processes and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling can also be a valuable tool,” he says.

Najim also says efforts should be directed toward hybrid models where crystallization, ice separation and thawing are carried out in a single unit. This requires novel crystallizers that can be scaled to industrial capacity — quite the engineering challenge right now. Moving from a batch-mode model to uninterrupted potable-water production should also be the focus of research in this area.

Freeze desalination may be a process seen in nature, but converting it to a manmade industry will still require a lot of energy. Janajreh says freeze desalination needs just half the energy conventional reverse osmosis consumes, but that’s still a tall order.

Pair the process with the cold energy from regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and you could have a solution. Or, stick with batch production and use your home fridge/freezer as Fekadu Melak did.

Removing other contaminants

Melak, assistant professor of environmental biotechnology at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, investigated freeze desalination as a water-treatment technology for the tanning industry using home-use freezer units.

“Wastewater generated by leather tanning is one of the major contributing sources of chromium pollution in water. Among the various tanning methods used around the world, more than 90 percent of the leathers tanned globally contain chromium, with 30 to 50 percent of the chromium used in the process leaching into the environment. Freeze-melting and removing the contaminants is an alternative physical process which can be used for desalting.”

It worked. Melak’s study saw efficiency as high as 85 percent for cleaning chromium-spiked tap water, and while technical challenges remain — including washing off the chromium adhered to the ice surface after freezing — the cost of freeze desalination was 50 percent lower than other wastewater-cleaning methods.

“In terms of the water quality produced and how cost-effective it is, freeze desalination is a pertinent option for a desalination technology,” Melak said.
Freeze desalination is gaining traction as a research interest but until projects can scale up to industrial levels, it’s doable at home.

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Delivering a greener future

The buzzword for the logistics industry? GREEN

The industry is trending toward green logistics, ways of minimizing the environmental impact and carbon footprint of logistics activities. With 37 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions coming from the transport and logistics industry, transport is the easiest place to start.

“With respect to the environment, transportation is the most visible aspect of supply chains,” says Jacqueline Bloemhof, professor of operations research and logistics at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. “One of the main choices in transport is the mode of transportation — plane, ship, truck, rail, barge or pipelines — and each mode has different characteristics in terms of costs, transit time, accessibility and environmental performance.”

Niklas Simm, Ph.D. candidate at Linköping University, Sweden, says for years, logistics professionals have not prioritized environmental concerns, despite academia’s steady increase in research interest: “The basic premise of logistics has been to manage and organize flows of goods in a resource-efficient manner. However, with the development of the U.N.’s global goals for sustainable development and emerging environmental interest, logistics operators have acknowledged an increased public interest in environmental questions, changing the perception of logistics and adding a new dimension. Supply chain organizations have begun to take responsibility for their logistics practices and have seen the need to consider the environmental effects of their practices.”

While there’s more to greenifying the industry than just the physical transportation of goods — think green packaging materials, space-saving packing, reducing returns and failed deliveries, improving warehouse layouts — transport is a major concern to companies looking to reduce their carbon footprint. Logistics giant DHL, for example, developed a “Green Logics Toolkit.”

“In today’s globalized and interconnected society, modern consumers demand goods that are both affordable and readily available at a moment’s notice,” Mohamed bin Thamer Al Kaabi, Bahrain’s minister of transportation and telecommunications, told the World Economic Forum. “This depends on reliable and resilient supply chains. But supply chains are only as good as their weakest link — and, as the past few years have shown, that weak link often ends up being transportation.”

KEEP ON TRUCKING

According to CITEPA, a France-based organization that collects, analyzes and disseminates information about climate change, light duty trucks account for 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from transport, and heavy duty trucks account for 22 percent.

In a product’s journey from warehouse to consumer, the final step is known as the “last mile of delivery.” Last-mile delivery is the most expensive and time-consuming part of the process and covers the product’s actual delivery to the recipient. This is a hotbed of inefficiency because a shipment’s final leg typically involves multiple stops with low drop sizes.

Emrah Demir, professor of operational research at Cardiff University, says the last mile is an increasingly powerful force reshaping supply networks around the world: “Customers wish to have on-time delivery of the products, which might be very difficult task for the logistic service providers because of various operational challenges and uncertainties.”

Because warehouses have moved farther from city centers, the distance traveled to deliver goods has significantly increased. Additionally, most deliveries are home deliveries, increasing the number of stops for a delivery service. Changing to a pick-up point service encourages customers to use clean mobility solutions, such as walking, public transport or cycling, especially in urban areas. But most importantly, perhaps, is the increase in order frequency. Online shopping has intensified, particularly thanks to the global COVID-19 pandemic changing consumer behaviors.

IMAGE: Abjad Design

“In 2022, retail e-commerce sales were estimated to exceed 5.7 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide,” Demir tells KUST Review. “This figure is expected to reach new heights in the coming years.”

DHL’s Green Logistics Toolkit recommends route optimization to reduce time and distance to destinations, lowering fuel consumption and reducing both emissions and costs. It also suggested training delivery drivers in eco-driving – driving behaviors that reduce emissions and fuel consumption – and using green fuels or electric vehicles.

The path to decarbonizing road freight transport seems straightforward: electrify. Dependence on fossil fuels remains one of the greatest challenges facing logistics, especially because effective, economically viable solutions have yet to be found. Many businesses, however, are shifting to EV fleets, which offer lower operating costs and less downtime. EVs offer another advantage too: They can be easily integrated into a greater cloud-connected supply chain network allowing AI-powered technologies to streamline operations.

Demir thinks EVs are the only option for delivery vehicles.

“For last-mile urban transportation, the future is EVs, but the technology is not there yet for heavy goods vehicles,” Demir tells KUST Review. “Phasing out fossil fuel road freight vehicles is an essential step to reducing emissions and combatting climate change.”

He points to the U.K.’s plans to ban sales of new diesel and petrol vans by 2030; require all new vans to be fully zero emission at the tailpipe from 2035; and ban the sale of all non-zero emission heavy duty vehicles by 2040 and lighter HDVs from 2035.

“Phasing out fossil fuel road freight vehicles will not only reduce emissions but also improve air quality and create new jobs in the green energy sector,” Demir says.

Limited electric recharging and hydrogen refilling stations in urban areas is an important drawback, however. Currently, light duty electric vans can travel around 250 kilometers before they need to be recharged. As technology develops and more electric vehicles are used, charging speeds will be reduced and more recharging hubs will become available in the network, but in the early days of the transition, recharging stations are a hard find.

“(EVs) are environmentally friendly since their engines have almost no emissions and emissions in electric power stations can be controlled,” Bloemhof says. “With their limited range, they are better suited to city transport, and to compensate for the short range, a dense power re-supply network could be set up, possibly in conjunction with a swap of batteries.”

Intelligent fleet management can also be put to better use here. Algorithms can prioritize dispatch of an eco-friendly fleet, encouraging consumers to choose eco-friendly delivery methods to get their items sooner.

IMAGE: Abjad Design

Alix Vargas spent 2020 working with Connected Places Catapult, an innovation accelerator in the U.K. There, she focused on sustainable collaborative logistics using planning algorithms to better manage freight logistics between companies: “Optimized truck journeys through collaboration will lead to a reduced total distance traveled and reduced number of trucks on the road with a consequent reduction in environmental and social costs.”

These algorithms and their associated platform can help potential collaborators trust each other, share data and build a new business model based on collaborative networks.

“Collaboration would reduce the number of heavy goods vehicles on the motorways, decrease emissions, reduce empty running, and identify routes and journeys where operators can consolidate their loads into single-vehicle trips,” Vargas explains.

Kardinal is a delivery-optimization platform for the logisticians. It recommends decreasing the number of vehicles used and the number of kilometers traveled. This can be achieved by optimizing routes and loading trucks to full capacity.

Kardinal also highlights the role companies need to play in raising awareness of a delivery’s environmental cost. A survey by the French Senate in May 2021 found that 93 percent of respondents felt insufficiently informed about the environmental impact of the delivery of their online purchases, and more than 85 percent thought it would have an impact on their choice of delivery method.

Cardiff University’s Demir thinks there’s more to it than simply optimizing the route:

“The traditional approach in route optimization was to reduce traveling distance, but all research in green logistics shows there are many other factors affecting fuel consumption,” Demir tells KUST Review. “Vehicle speed, congestion, road gradient, payload and driver behavior are all factors affecting fuel consumption alongside traveling distance. My own Ph.D. in 2012 looked at these factors, and only now have more and more software packages started looking at these factors together.”

According to an IBM Research Insights report, 57 percent of consumers are willing to change their ecommerce purchasing habits to reduce their environmental impact. Another study by UNiDAYS, a discount website for students in the United Kingdom, found 80 percent of Gen Z students would consider paying more for sustainably delivered products.

IMAGE: Abjad Design

With the rise of the gig economy, crowdsourcing platforms are stepping up to ease last mile delivery difficulties in cities. Local, non-professional couriers who use their own transportation can make deliveries. And with the ongoing integration and enhancement of automation across industries, delivery robots and drones are becoming a reality quickly.

“Using drones and delivery robots as assistants in parcel delivery is a new service option, as seen in Amazon, UPS, Walmart, Alibaba, etc.,” Demir says. “With their joint work as assistants, the delivery services can be carried out more efficiently and environment friendly. When an adequate number of assistants is deployed, the cooperated delivery system would reduce the required energy consumption and the amount of CO2 emissions generated.”

Until then, Bloemhof says, an important aspect in green transportation is the choice of fuel. “Modern gasoline is cleaner compared to old gasoline as we focused on removing lead additives. Now, biofuels based on corn or on organic waste can easily be mixed with standard gasoline, but more extensive use requires adapting engines, which is quite expensive.”

Demir is happy to see autonomous vehicles introduced in the transport sector. It’s a major step forward, he says:

“Autonomous vehicles reduce emissions and air pollutants, protecting the environment and improving people’s lives. For example, truck platooning technology can be used to control the position of all vehicles in the platoon, permitting the group to operate extremely closely, reducing wind resistance and decreasing fuel consumption. The future of transportation will be seamless mobility where all modes and (semi-) autonomous vehicles are fully connected and integrated into a single network of information exchange.

“In an ongoing research study, the Giro Zero project assessed the viability of adopting alternative technologies, such as low carbon vehicle technologies like electric vehicles, and hydrogen, and dynamic planning tools that enhance the planning and execution of trips run by trucking companies in Colombia. Similar country-specific studies can shed a light on the transition to cleaner technologies by using real-life transport data and considering the requirements of the country.”

ADVANCES AT SEA

Today’s globalized and interconnected supply chains mean that some 80-90 percent of the world’s goods are transported by sea. Each year, container ships ferrying these goods emit upward of 1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, accounting for 3 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions.

The European Commission projects these emissions to increase if measures aren’t taken. The commission has made several legislative proposals as part of its Fit for 55 package, which aims to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030. One such proposal is to support demand for marine renewable and low-carbon fuels and boost alternative fuel infrastructures.

IMAGE: Abjad
How will energy transition impact gas and oil?

The oil and gas industry plays a major role in driving economic and social growth. According to BP’s energy outlook 2030, the world’s primary energy consumption will grow 39 percent over the next 20 years. Concerns over environmental impact and future availability have prompted a transition to low carbon industry, but there has been little research into the impact of this transition on the oil and gas supply chain. Read more›››

“Even though the evolution process from high carbon to low carbon energy is currently very slow, we should be identifying how the shift will affect the supply chain of oil and gas,” Marisa P. de Brito said at the Asian Conference on Sustainability, Energy and the Environment in 2013. De Brito, lecturer in sustainable supply chain management and circular economies at Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, investigated the impact of energy transition on sustainable supply chain management of oil and gas

Her review of sustainability reports of companies in the oil and gas industry noted that the energy transition is an issue attracting considerable attention. However, as the players in this space move toward becoming energy companies, not just oil and gas producers, focus shifts to the infrastructure supporting alternative energy sources too.

“We are seeing increased efforts concentrated on improving efficiency of operations and products, which could help in addressing sustainability issues, especially in terms of carbon emission reduction,” de Brito said. “Around 73 percent of the companies we looked at discussed issues related to supply chain management in their reports. Of these, 18 companies disclosed that they are in planning and/or research and development phase of alternative energy sources and significant investment must be made in their supply chains to develop production and logistics infrastructure that can deliver this energy.

De Brito emphasized that logistics infrastructure such as storage and transport systems must be efficient so as to reduce cost and time to deliver supplies to users because many production sites are located in remote areas. The sustainability concerns plaguing the oil and gas supply chain – such as sustainable sourcing; clean production; water and waste management; and the carbon footprint of the production process and logistics activities – are the same facing the development of alternative energy.

“As one of the major players in the energy sector, the oil and gas industry will be affected by the energy transition. They can either continue doing what they do best — exploring and producing oil and gas —but risk running out of business in the long run, or get involved in the so-called clean energy race to remain resilient against the changes in their business environment.”

De Brito’s points remain salient almost a decade on. The oil and gas industry continues to face increasing demands to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the strategic challenge of balancing short-term returns with its long-term operations. Reimagining existing supply chains can build a sustainable and efficient network for the movement of energy products‹‹‹ Read less

Danish shipping company Maersk has started to pivot toward carbon-neutral methanol-powered ships to offset the 33 million tons of carbon dioxide it emitted in 2020. Fully electric tanker ships and even the world’s first autonomous electric cargo carrier are also helping to wean the industry off fossil fuels. Norwegian chemical company Yara launched the fully electric, fully autonomous cargo ship in 2021 to demo the journey between two cities on the Norwegian coast.

The International Council on Clean Transportation says hydrogen could fuel 43 percent of voyages between the United States and China without any changes to fuel capacity or operations and 99 percent of voyages with minor changes.

For the shipping industry, it’s not just what fuel it uses, but what fuel it delivers too.

Changes to the oil and gas industry as the world shifts from fossil fuels will directly impact the shipping sector too: Thirty-six percent of current trade is transporting energy goods, primarily oil, coal and gas. The shipping freight industry’s biggest problem right now? Declines in shipments of oil and gas outweigh growth of transport of new fuels. Different forms of energy would not be difficult for freight companies to deliver, given existing infrastructure and familiarity with the cargo. While no shipping vessels have been tested with hydrogen, retrofitting existing ships with hydrogen fuel cells should be relatively easy.

And, if we can figure out hydrogen transportation, bioenergy and hydrogen shipments have the potential to be as high as coal and gas shipments, but such increases still do not offset an overall decline in energy products transported by sea.

UP IN THE AIR

According to the Air Transport Action Group, air transport as a whole represents 2.1 percent of global carbon emissions. Air freight produces around 10 times more CO2 than transportation by ship.

Jet fuels created from waste products and other sustainable feedstocks have the potential to reduce these emissions by 80 percent. These are known as sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), and their development could be the key to sustainable air travel.

The International Air Transport Association says more than 450,000 flights have taken to the skies using SAF and more than 50 airlines have experience with the product.

SAFs can be mixed with traditional liquid aviation fuel but they’re also known as drop-in fuels — they can replace traditional fuels without any changes to the engines or systems of modern aircraft. However, SAFs are more expensive, which limits their uptake. Lufthansa Cargo and Air France KLM Martinair have adopted SAF programs for their air cargo activities but scaling up their use to a global market requires substantial investment.

Battery-powered aircraft are also an option. Working toward electrifying air freight is an important step since electrified commercial flights remain out of reach. Larger-capacity electric planes require major advancements in battery technology but smaller flight distances could benefit.

Eviation, an electric aircraft manufacturer, offers a freighter version of its planes that could be used to cover shorter, primarily domestic routes.
Beyond the fuels used, advances in AI and digitalization can support and accelerate sustainable air freight logistics. Blockchain technology, for example, could help provide companies with “fully traceable environmental attributes of SAF to help decarbonize air travel” — so says Avelia, a blockchain solution backed by Shell, Accenture and Amex GBT.