Lake Constance residents want climate-neutral shipping by 2040
Shipping on Lake Constance is to be climate-neutral by 2040. Bavaria's Minister for Europe, Eric Beißwenger (CSU), stated this goal at a meeting of the International Lake Constance Conference (IBK) in Munich on Friday. "That would be a model for all European inland lakes." The Free State of Bavaria chaired the IBK this year and focused on the goal of emission-free shipping.
Bavaria commissioned an expert report to demonstrate the possibilities in this area. This proposed 2040 as the target date. "The remaining 16 years are a sensible but also necessary period of time to safely shape the transformation," the paper states. E-methanol is recommended as the main energy source. This fuel should also be increasingly used in deep-sea shipping in the future.
According to the study, more than 38,000 boats with combustion engines are currently registered on Lake Constance, which together produce around 52,000 tons of CO2 per year. According to the study, the emissions are mainly caused by high horsepower pleasure craft, the large ferries on the main traffic routes and tourist passenger ships.
Individual projects have already been initiated in recent years to achieve the goal of climate-neutral shipping. A ferry powered by a gas engine has been operating between Meersburg and Constance for a few weeks now. In future, the car ferry is to be filled with biomethane, making it largely climate-neutral.
The first electric passenger ship has also been in operation since 2022. The Bodensee-Schiffsbetriebe (BSB) want to convert the entire fleet by 2035. Baden-Württemberg's Transport Minister Winfried Hermann (Greens) recently announced that there would soon be no more new registrations for combustion-powered boats on Lake Constance. However, he did not specify a concrete timetable.
The IBK has been the joint platform of the governments of the federal states and cantons in the Lake Constance region for half a century. In addition to Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, six Swiss cantons, the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and the Principality of Liechtenstein are also involved. Next year, the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden will lead the conference and aims to further advance the goal of a transport turnaround in the Lake Constance region.
People can utilize their leisure time by exploring the natural beauty of Lake Constance on these eco-friendly vessels. Efforts in nature conservation extend to reducing emissions from tourism, promoting the use of water as a sustainable energy source for ships.
Source: www.dpa.com
