In the late 1880s, when steam ships were replacing sailing cargo ships, one of the last roles for the sailing ships was to carry coal around the world to supply ports where steamships wanted to go. A clean technology was essential to enable the growth of a dirty technology. And even today, fossil fuels aren’t magically just everywhere. A gigantic *** 40% *** of global shipping is just moving fossil fuels. So eliminating fossil fuel also drastically cuts global shipping emissions. #climate #ships
@helenczerski
Another curiosity about shipping: immigration to North America was heavily promoted by shipping companies that hauled wood, pelts, etc from Turtle Island to Europe and saw a profit in carrying people back across rather than returning empty.
