UAE industrial heavyweight EGA teams up with “K” Line on de-carbonisation move

Dubai: Emirates Global Aluminium will partner Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” Line Group), the shipping company, on research and pilot projects to decarbonise bulk cargo shipping. This is expected to focus on the development and implementation of new marine decarbonisation technologies suitable for EGA’s bulk cargo shipping routes in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean.

Solutions could include kite systems, alternative fuels and CO2 capture technologies. These technologies currently have ‘technical and practical challenges to widespread adoption that remain to be overcome, ranging from technology immaturity to lack of support infrastructure’. The “K” Line Group will lead research into decarbonisation opportunities, and EGA will target pilot projects on its “K” Line shipping routes.

The shipping group transports some 5 million tonnes of EGA’s bauxite per annum from the Republic of Guinea to the UAE, as well as 1.5 million tonnes of alumina each year from Australia to the UAE under long-term contracts of affreightment. The global shipping industry makes up nearly 3 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Maritime Organisation. (Shipping accounts for a proportion of the emissions generated in EGA’s supply chain, known as ‘scope 3 emissions’).

“Economy-wide decarbonisation will require cooperation between industries,” said Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of EGA. “Our long-term relationship with “K” Line Group provides an ideal platform to develop and test ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from shipping.”