How Amazon and IKEA are pushing the shipping industry to meet net-zero emissions targets

Amazon.com and IKEA, along with about 30 other companies that rely on ocean transportation, will invite shipping companies for the first time to bid for a contract in January to move their cargo on e-fuel powered ships that run near zero. such as e-methanol.

The group known as the Zero Emissions Maritime Buyers Alliance wants to use the collective power of its members, who have their own climate goals to meet, to create demand for e-fuels made from renewable electricity and carbon dioxide. That oil is in short supply.

The coalition wants to accelerate the shipping industry’s move towards net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, just as US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to withdraw from international commitments to combat global warming.

World shipping moves more than 80% of international trade and contributes about 3% of global GHG emissions. E-fuels are critical to decarbonizing ocean shipping because they have the long-term potential to compete against fossil fuels in terms of cost and supply, the coalition said.

“This is how you get on track and on your way to becoming net-zero,” said coalition member Carl Berger, who leads Amazon Global Logistics’ sustainability and export operations.

The group’s three- to five-year contracts for e-fuel transportation are expected to begin in 2027.

The cargo shipped under the contract is estimated to be the equivalent of at least 1.4 million 20-foot containers transported from Shanghai to Los Angeles. That will enable members to reduce 470,000 tons of GHGs that burn the earth and harm human health, the group said.

Carriers such as Maersk, Evergreen and Ocean Network Express (ONE) have ordered ships that can run on methanol and are working to secure cargoes of that fuel.

While the coalition members hope their participation will lower the cost of e-fuels, they expect to pay an undisclosed amount to help reduce the high cost of gasoline.

“Once that market takes off we’ll start to see those costs come down,” Alliance CEO Ingrid Irigoyen said of e-fuel.

—Lisa Baertlein, Reuters