As Cruise Liverpool comes to the end of this year’s season, we’re looking forward to how the team are planning for future seasons.
We sat down with their newest recruit Chris Tyler who has joined the team as a Sustainability Consultant, to find out all about his research on how Cruise Liverpool can work towards becoming net zero.
As a recent graduate of Environmental Science, I have spent the last 3 years studying how the planet and environment operate and what the key factors are that affect them. I have always found learning about how the world works more of a hobby than a chore, with a specific interest in the marine environment. The ocean has always captivated me as this vast, mysterious expanse of something so ordinary as water, but that gives birth to all life on this planet, of which none would exist without it.
My fascination with the marine environment, coupled with my desire to aid in matters of sustainability and carbon reduction strategy make this position at Cruise Liverpool the perfect fit. As Sustainability Consultant for Cruise Liverpool I will work alongside the terminal to research and analyse how the UK cruise industry and the terminal itself may best work towards becoming net zero, whilst aligning with government and industry set targets and ambitions.
The cruise industry comes under a lot of scrutiny for its environmental impact, so a study like this is important to help better understand how to progress in the most effective way, both for the industry as a whole and for the Liverpool Cruise Terminal. That said, government and industry have made a start on addressing the environmental issues associated with the maritime sector with the release of documents such as Maritime 2050 and the Clean Maritime Plan which between them set out an initial framework of targets and goals and a roadmap of how they will be achieved.
We are firmly in the research and development phase for the majority of technologies that are going to help achieve the main target of UK maritime becoming net zero by 2050. Further to broad-scale documents like those listed above, multiple new ports throughout the country have been built with sustainability at the forefront, with many older ports allocating a lot of time and resources into becoming more sustainable. Cruise Liverpool itself has the goal of being net zero by ‘as soon as possible’ with the help of this research.
Over this year-long position, I have started by reviewing all current and relevant documentation around UK policy and strategy with regards to the maritime sector becoming net zero by 2050, whilst currently working on scrutinising current literature and initiatives based on potential solutions which include: alternative fuel sources, net zero energy options, port initiatives and more.
The second phase will be to research (and possibly visit) a host of existing ports both locally and internationally that are at the forefront of sustainability and net zero, then recommending which features may or may not be applicable to the Liverpool region and reporting any key barriers.
Finally, I intend to research and explore with stakeholders the vision and timeline for a net zero cruise terminal in Liverpool, reviewing the possible against probable for different stages over the coming decades. By the end of this position, I hope Cruise Liverpool has a suitable and useful net zero energy roadmap for Liverpool’s cruise terminal.