Micronesian Center for Sustainable Transport (MCST) Blog

In order to steer Go Sail Cargo towards sustainable zero-carbon growth and global expansion, a new business entity must be created. Capital raising is first on the list and here we must be clear in our goals and informed as to how to achieve them, but thinking laterally and being prepared to abandon preconceived ideas, unless they dovetail with the aims of the new company, is essential. In order to be taken seriously any new entity must present a practical, viable, scalable and profitable proposition that is demonstrably beneficial to all stakeholders. One that fulfills a clearly identified need and does so in a non-invasive and non-polluting manner for the foreseeable future. Go Sail Cargo ticks all those boxes. It is my aim to develop a structure that is essentially cooperative in ownership and concordant in action. Specifically, the Pacific Nations, with their overwhelming dependence on maritime transport and centuries of advanced and intuitive navigational skills s...

For every time, every decade there are solutions. Mine are based on common sense and the need to take action. We offer true Zero-emission ships like our versatile C-100, not half-hearted compromises. Vessels that can be efficiently mass produced combining the best of time-tested sailing ships with the very best of proven technology. We’re ready to go, here’s how.   Zero-carbon operation is available right now by optimising the ships and reducing the power use.   The fully optimised ship , working with maximum efficiency starts with a computer-tuned hull for maximum performance, a safe, stable carrier that can be relied on to deliver the goods. Racing technology is applied to proven, practical rigs, the sail power is multiplied. Using wind and sun alone, the sails, wind generators and solar all work in unison to drive the vessel.   Reduce the power usage on board. Every single component must function reliably and efficiently by harnessing all available power. Here’s a f...

Speaking at the high-level opening of the 2022 UN Ocean Conference, co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Portugal, from June 27 th to July 1 st , UN Secretary-General warns “ We cannot have a healthy planet without a healthy ocean ”.   Many people were thrilled to hear the Marshall Islands, United States, Denmark, and Kenya’s pledges to decarbonise international shipping. After all, this is a sector responsible for 2.89% in global GHG emissions in 2018 (1,076 million tonnes) according to the Fourth IMO GHG Study 2020 . If treated as a country, international shipping would be the eight largest GHG emitter in the world. Speaking at a side event of the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Sue Biniaz, US Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change, declared that the current US administration is “ committed to work with other countries in the IMO to adopt the goal of zero emissions - not net-zero emissions - but zero emissions from international shipping by no later than 2050 ”. The Interna...

Diesel is impressive. Impressive in its abundance, energy density and liquid transportability. These unique features have made it ubiquitous to heavy transport and traction in the 20th and 21st centuries. This powerful substance now runs the agricultural machinery that feeds 7.5 billion people worldwide and overall it does the work equivalent to having an extra 50 billion manual labourers on the planet. Every product in existence now relies on diesel, at some stage of its journey, to reach the market. Diesel’s grip on our world is impressive indeed. Pacific Island Nations entered the diesel powered global economy without much say in the matter and today they pay the highest price in the world for their participation. As the price of diesel reaches all-time highs and continues to rise steadily, so do global temperatures and sea levels. Diesel’s immense contribution to the climate crisis, which already disrupts life in Pacific Island Nations and will continue to do so for centuries to co...