In just over a decade, shipping has taken significant steps towards decarbonization, innovating and deploying advanced technologies, including turbocharging, fuel injection, and digital solutions to boost efficiency and cut emissions. Implemented across the 50,000 biggest ships in a global fleet of 100,000, such energy-saving technologies could deliver substantial progress towards the IMO’s 2030 emissions reduction target of 20–30%.
In fact, after more than a decade of rapid innovation and investment, ships are emerging that could deliver on the IMO’s 2050 net zero target. There’s just one problem: the ships may be ready, but the fuels are not. As Daniel Bischofberger, CEO of Accelleron, puts it: “We built it. They didn’t come.”
Through engineering and digital innovation, decarbonization has progressed, only to get stalled by a stubborn carbon-neutral fuel stalemate between shipowners, ports, and fuel producers. Immobilized by the combined uncertainty of future fuel pathways and the unprecedented magnitude of investment, no single actor can commit to producing or buying carbon-neutral fuels at scale.
What if shipping were to reach across the aisle and join forces with the other hard-to-abate sectors — together accounting for more than 70% of global CO₂ emissions, and all dependent on the same feedstocks and fuels to reach net zero? Could a new kind of cross-sectoral partnership flip the odds and generate the critical mass of demand necessary to break the stalemate and catalyze the energy transition?
Listen to the full podcast above, where Bischofberger highlights the potential of this approach and offers a preview of Accelleron's new report, to be launched at the LISW Global Hub event Breaking the Carbon-Neutral Fuel Deadlock to Accelerate Shipping’s Net Zero Future on Tuesday, September 16, 14:00–16:00. Featuring a keynote, presentation, and panel exploring how cross-sectoral collaboration could unlock investment, advance fuel infrastructure, and accelerate the journey to net zero.
Register now and join us in person at LISW for this solutions-focused dialogue: Breaking the Carbon-Neutral Fuel Deadlock to Accelerate to Net Zero - #LISW25 London International Shipping Week
Original podcast published by London International Shipping Week (LISW): https://lisw.com/lisw25-interview-daniel-bischofberger-ceo-accelleron/