At a Glance: The National Mission for Clean Shipping

Shipping is the source of 2-3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and is expected to grow by 50% or more by 2050. As with aviation, it is not yet certain which technologies will power the clean shipping fleets of the future. Options include:

Hydrogen powered ships. Commercial h2-powered ships are already transporting goods and passengers. With less weight and space restrictions than on planes, hydrogen storage is much easier for ships. Remaining questions include problems with harmful H2 leakage, and the challenge of establishing a global system of H2 refueling infrastructure.

Ammonia powered ships. Ammonia is more stable and thus easier to store and transport than hydrogen. Making ammonia with green hydrogen, however, involves a fundamental inefficiency that may not be compensated for by ammonia's advantage in stability and ease of storage and transport. Ammonia creates 60-90% less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional shipping fuel. Since the greenhouse gas equivalent emissions of using hydrogen for shipping fuel is still not precisely known, ammonia could turn out to be a better fuel than hydrogen with respect to indirect greenhouse gas emissions.

Carbon capture. Promising experiments with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology on ships are underway. Like hydrogen and ammonia, however, carbon capture on ships will require a very large-scale and elaborate system of transporting and loading the CCS materials and equipment.

The national mission for shipping will:

Organize investment into all reasonable approaches to clean shipping, with the goal of building a clean shipping industry that aims to supply the world with clean shipping capacity. Our plan calls for this new export industry being in full swing in 10 years.

Reach 100% clean shipping in U.S. domestic shipping and inland waterways in 10 years.

Modernize America's ports deteriorating shipping infrastructure, and build out clean fueling infrastructure.

Modernizing America's ports and transitioning to a zero-emissions shipping fleet would decrease U.S. emissions and set a new international model for other countries to follow. America's inland waterways make up our domestic "water highways" and transport vast amounts of goods across the country. The US marine transport system is vital to the American economy, contributing over $500 billion to America's GDP and employing more than 10 million workers.

Investments in domestic ports and inland waterway infrastructure have not kept pace with changes in shipping practices. As a result, America's waterway infrastructure has begun to deteriorate. Infrastructure studies consistently find America's ports to be falling behind that of countries like China or Japan. The shipping industry is also a significant contributor to global warming, responsible for around 3% of America's yearly emissions.

This national mission provides a comprehensive plan to modernize America's waterway infrastructure, transition the industry to zero-emission shipping technologies, and rebuild a domestic ship-building industry.

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation will provide the financing and cross-industry coordination necessary to rebuild America's ship-building industry around clean shipping.

Congress will need to significantly increase its funding for the maintenance, upgrade, and expansion of its inland waterways. The president will work with key international peers to create a global network of refueling stations at major international ports.