by Przemysław Myszka
Year 2026 has set off to a particularly peculiar welcome by filling the days (and the Baltic Sea and its ports) with unusually low temperatures and snow falling more than expressively. Kids, that is how winter looked in my youth (and I'm not that old!)! But no worries! We have got something to keep you warm and fuzzy - the latest and greatest issue, fresh from the oven!
Traditionally, the opening edition hosts a round-up of Baltic transport highlights from the previous year, a wholesome set of events that together coalesced into a few trends shaping our region. This 16-page mini-report will take you through bioLNG, wind power (for ships to burn less bunker) and wind energy (for ports to help with switching what ‘ignites' that electric spark in your socket), electrification (here, too, on- and offshore), future fuels (‘cause not everything can be electrified - yet), and carbon capture (‘cause not everything can be electrified or switched to low/zero fuels - yet).
Speaking of capturing that carbon, Sustainability's Closing the loop(s) article analyses the world's first end-to-end trial of an on-board carbon capture system, revealing that it actually works - and how it could work (far) better. Having mentioned wind, the Colliding winds piece goes through the challenges, enablers, and drag chains of delivering more offshore wind energy production capacity in the Baltic. Regional ports, it seems, have caught up with gusto through infrastructural investments, and now it's the regulatory/political side of things that keeps clutching the brake lever.
Since we've opened that can of worms, Infrastructure delayed is transport denied not only provides you with key (and grim) takeaways from the European Court of Auditors' (ECA) update on TEN-T mega-projects, it does so without shying away from making several op-ed remarks. This examination also includes some rather disturbing insights into the setup of Rail Baltica in Latvia, but hey, it was ECA in the first place that gave this project an investigative look! ‘Admirers' of the Fehmarn Belt fixed link will find something worthy of attention for themselves too (supporters of the Helsinki-Tallinn underwater tunnel may feel a bit let down, though).
For less sensitive reads (joking!), Economy has the Boston Consulting Group dissecting the patchwork world order we are increasingly heading towards, another Sustainability article goes onto explaining why this year will redefine shipping's path to net-zero (spoiler alert: not by some future fuel boom and certainly not by delivering a global fuel accord), and, of course, Technology couldn't be spared a read about AI.
Warmest and sunniest from the defrosting Central Pomerania!
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