John Buckingham

John is a fellow of the IMechE with over 40 years’ experience in marine engineering systems design. He has designed and analyzed hybrid power and propulsion systems for naval and commercial vessels and is currently involved with the modeling and analysis of marine energy-saving technologies and how they can improve energy efficiency indices. He has been the technical lead for a wide range of technology studies and concept development work, specifically on studies relating to energy-saving technologies and heat management systems. He is currently looking at how absorption chiller plants can benefit the efficiency of ships’ air-conditioning systems.

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Presentation

A techno-economic assessment of a wind-assisted propulsion solution for a bulker

There has been a significant growth in the uptake of Wind-Assisted Propulsion (WAP) to address the challenge of the IMO’s CII targets. Interest in energy saving technologies (EST) such as WAP will grow as the CII targets become more stringent. The cost of alternative fuels remains high and there are constant commercial pressures to keep operating costs down. A Techno-Economic Assessment (TEA) of the ship fit of a WAP solution to a bulker is presented. It identifies the key cost items and shows how future carbon taxes may help with making the balance tilt to a more economically attractive solution.