Today, Philippe Berterottière, CEO of Gaztransport & Technigaz, and Jacques Rougerie, oceanographer and academic architect, talk about the future of our societies in harmony with the marine world.
Paris Match. Each in your field, you project yourselves towards a not so dark horizon. What are the reasons for your optimism?
Jacques Rougerie. Together, let’s look at the genius of nature! We must draw inspiration from it to build the future. The ocean is a gigantic and precious reservoir from which will flow the renewable energies of tomorrow, food, pharmacology, biotechnologies for the common good of humanity. It is from him that the future of future civilizations will be born. During my dives, for more than fifty years, I am well aware of the damage, the pollution. But I believe in people. Everywhere, we see young people getting up. We are at a moment of fundamental transition that will lead us to a different behavior. Without denying science in its advancement, but adapting it to the service of nature.
Philippe Berterottiere. Of course, we must move towards more frugality, but without destabilizing our societies, that is to say by continuing an economic activity of international trade, for which maritime transport is a backbone. I remind you that 90% of the resources and consumer goods transported in the world are by boat. This activity represents 3% of CO2 emissions. It is very little for so many goods and at the same time considerable. The fuel oils used until now for the propulsion of ships are very polluting. They emit a lot of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, fine particles. It absolutely had to be tackled. This is what we are doing with Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT), by offering to equip boats with liquefied natural gas (LNG) thanks to which you eliminate most of the discharges and reduce CO2 emissions by 30%. This is considerable progress and the only current solution to allow us to move forward, towards hydrogen for example.
The sea, its challenges and its potential bring you together. Before this new call from the planet, did you have any contacts?
PB Indeed, we met around SeaOrbiter, Jacques’ project for a vertical exploration boat. For the moment, GTT’s technologies are not directly applicable, but we are working on many innovations, such as bubbles reducing friction with the ocean. There may be convergences.
JR SeaOrbiter, imagined fifteen years ago, has just been relaunched at the One Ocean Summit in Brest. I have always linked architecture to oceanography and wanted to build for the human beings of tomorrow, whom I call the “merians”. SeaOrbiter has another problem than propulsion because, for 80% of the time, it must drift and be stable, even in heavy weather. It must be completely self-sufficient in energy, but since the beginning of the project, technologies have evolved a lot, I am thinking of hydrogen. We review the copy.
SeaOrbiter, the ocean exploration laboratory vessel.
© COURTESY JACQUES ROUGERIE
This seems to many the solution: clean, unlimited energy.
PB Here, we project ourselves to 2045-2050. In the meantime, we must be very pragmatic for the future of the planet and of humanity. Take available solutions, such as LNG, and couple that with better vessel operation. Artificial intelligence can bring a lot to the overall optimization of energy thanks to sensors on the hull, in the hold, taking into account currents, winds, weather. Listen to the sea, in short! In 2021, 20% of ships ordered worldwide were powered by LNG, which is huge progress, whereas CMA-CGM was a forerunner in 2017.
Why this delay in evolving?
PB The fuel was not expensive enough and the shipowners did not have enough incentive to make an effort, that was one of the problems. Currently, we are suffering from the rise in the price of fossil fuels, a kind of carbon tax that many had not even dreamed of, and the situation pushes us to save energy. We are up against the wall.
Protecting the environment, but also being inspired by it. You have this in common and have brought your innovations to Ponant cruise ships.
JR I imagined putting eyes on Ponant’s boats, a la Jules Verne! These are large portholes in the hull to allow passengers to communicate with the underwater world. Six ships are now equipped, it’s unique in the world.
PB We have equipped the “Commandant Charcot”, a Ponant exploration liner, with LPG propulsion. Thanks to this technology, no impact in sulfur and nitrogen oxide, no fine particles emitted in the Arctic and Antarctica, which are fragile environments, where he is currently sailing.