AkzoNobel has issued its first carbon credits to shippers who switched to a carbon-reducing coating.
The chemicals giant recently announced that it issued more than 126,000 carbon credits — valued at more than $500,000 — to 16 ship owners who converted their vessels from a biocidal anti-fouling coating to a coating that reduces CO2 emissions, such as AkzoNobel’s Intersleek hull coating.
The pioneering program was launched in 2014 in collaboration with the Gold Standard Foundation, who “rigorously assessed” the vessels’ fuel consumption data. The first 16 vessels assessed each saved on average more than 1,250 tons of fuel and 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
More than 4,500 vessels currently use Intersleek, and AkzoNobel expects more vessels to enter the scheme in the coming years. Using the estimate that each vessel saves an average of 10 percent carbon dioxide emissions each year, the total savings from all ships combined represents about 1.5 percent of global emissions from the shipping industry.
“We have long known that our Intersleek coatings can contribute to reducing carbon emissions from the shipping industry,” said Intersleek Business Manager Trevor Solomon, who manages the carbon credits program. “With the award of the first carbon credits, we now have independent validation and verification of those fuel and emission savings by respected auditors and The Gold Standard Foundation.”