The world’s largest cruise ship will make its maiden voyage this Saturday, but environmental groups fear that the liquefied natural gas-powered ship – and other giant cruise ships that will follow it – could release harmful methane into the atmosphere.
Royal Caribbean International’s Icon of the Seas sails from Miami with capacity for 8,000 passengers across 20 decks, capitalizing on the growing popularity of cruising.
The vessel was built to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG), which burns cleaner than traditional marine fuel but poses greater risks for methane emissions.
Environmental groups say the methane leak from ship engines poses an unacceptable risk to the climate due to its harmful short-term effects.
“It’s a step in the wrong direction,” said Bryan Comer, director of the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), an environmental policy think tank.
“We estimate that using LNG as a marine fuel emits 120% more lifecycle greenhouse gases than marine diesel.”
In terms of warming effects, methane is 80 times worse over 20 years than carbon dioxide, making reducing these emissions critical to curbing global temperature warming.
Source: Terra
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