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trary, the reduction of production by OPEC+ and Towards the end of 2021, Blue World Technologies
the global economic recession may be the only took over the production of all critical compo-
‘’obstacles’’ for the excellent performance of the nents for methanol fuel cells and is currently in
freight market. the production stage. Blue World Technologies
Source: Xclusiv Shipbrokers is expected to continue upscaling production to
reach a full-scale commercial production capacity
BILL GATES BACKS METHANOL AS A FUEL of 50,000 fuel cell units within three years
FOR GLOBAL SHIPPING
Like other industry sectors, the shipping industry is ELON MUSK ENTERS THE CRUISE MARKET
called upon to reduce its environmental footprint. Royal Caribbean Cruises has announced a deal
Many initiatives have been taken in this direction. with SpaceX’s Starlink to provide uninterrupted
Although there is an ongoing debate about who internet access onboard its ships.
will bear the costs for greening shipping, ship- The partnership aims to combat historically bad
yards, ship design firms, energy companies, clas- internet connectivity during cruise voyages. The
sification societies, and shipping companies are technology will be deployed across all Royal
stepping up their efforts to build commercially Caribbean-owned cruise ships beginning immedi-
viable zero-emissions vessels. ately, with installation scheduled to be completed
Several projects are underway that employ early next year.
advanced technologies and alternative fuels in this “This technology will provide game-changing inter-
context. Interest in methanol has been increasing, net connectivity onboard our ships,” Royal Carib-
so it is no coincidence that Bill Gates, one of the bean CEO Jason Liberty said in a press release.
wealthiest people in the world, has also invested “It will improve and enable more high-bandwidth
in technology to support the switch. Danish startup activities like video streaming and activities like
Blue World Technologies recently raised $37 mil- video calls.”
lion from investors, including Breakthrough Energy Starlink is an interconnected internet network
Ventures, backed by Bill Gates, to help it scale up of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit that
production of a new system that could power large SpaceX envisions will deliver high-speed inter-
ships using methanol. net anywhere on the planet. The company has
Blue World has developed a high-temperature fuel launched about 2,700 satellites to date.
cell that can take a mixture of gases directly from
the reformer — including small amounts of carbon CHINA’S ECONOMIC MEASURES DRIVING
monoxide that would spoil a regular commercial THE BULK CARRIER MARKET
cell. Blue World’s process produces only water and China’s August iron ore imports fell 1.7% year on
carbon dioxide, which can then be compressed, year. According to data from Oceanbolt, despite
stored, and recombined later with hydrogen to the reduction, imported volumes reached their
produce more methanol. highest levels since January 2022, following a

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