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“Innovation is key to land technologies that are able to replace current energy sources”, Carles Redón Lurbe, Technical Director of Boluda Towage Spain

28/11/2022. The company Boluda Corporación Marítima collaborates with Opentop in its I Acceleration Program proposing the challenge “‌Low-risk carbon footprint reduction”, which aims to meet this challenge of sustainability of the sector while maintaining the profitability of operations.

With this purpose in mind, we have chatted with Carles Redón Lurbe, Technical Director of Boluda Towage Spain, who has given us more details about this challenge.

Currently, interested startups can apply with their solutions to this and any of the four challenges that the call has open before December 4, 2022.

What role does innovation play in the e-fuels of the future?

Innovation is key to land technologies that are able to replace current energy sources while maintaining their accessibility, versatility, durability over time and all while being environmentally friendly.

Is the risk of technical obsolescence of clean energy systems new or has it been around for a long time?

Technical obsolescence has always been a problem. We cannot talk about technical obsolescence of clean equipment since many of them entered the market “relatively recently”. The problem is based more on the uncertainty about what the fuel of the future will be and the technologies it will need.

What kind of startups are looking for this challenge?

Startups capable of analyzing the current situation of the energy market, its evolution and the e-fuel solutions of the future.

What initiatives have been carried out so far by Boluda to reduce the carbon footprint by controlling the investment risk?

The company is carrying out many initiatives such as: the use of data for the analysis and optimization of operations, the use of OPS and the use of local workshops and suppliers for the purchase of materials and maintenance.

Define the challenge in 3 words

Future, committed and innovative.

“Low-risk carbon footprint reduction”, Boluda Corporación Maritima Challenge

Do you want to know more about the challenge of Boluda? Let’s review its history.

Boluda Corporación Marítima is organized into two strategic divisions: Boluda Towage (towing service) and Boluda Shipping (sea/land transport and port logistics).

Boluda Shipping offers comprehensive maritime transport and international freight management. The company specialises in providing door-to-door services connecting the Iberian Peninsula with the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Italy, Northern Europe, the west coast of Africa and Cape Verde. It provides port logistics services through its six maritime terminals in Spain, as well as Project Cargo services. In Latin America, through Naviera del Mercosur shipping company, it provides multimodal logistics for dry and reefer goods transport via the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway, one of the world’s largest navigable systems, which connects the ports of Asunción, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

Boluda Towage division focuses its main functions on port, coastal and offshore towing, as well as on maritime salvage. This division is leading the towing sector in Spain, being second in the international field, with a fleet of more than 300 tugs distributed by the main ports of Europe, Africa, Latin America and Indian Ocean.

One of the main targets of “Fit for 55” package for the future European energy system is to reduce Greenhouse emissions at least by 55% until 2030. This will be achieved mainly by increasing renewable energy sources production and limiting the usage of fossil fuels and integrating green technologies (energy efficiency, local storage, e-mobility, etc).

Different industries, like the transport sector, need to face big investments to adapt its energy systems, reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and/or compensate them. On the other hand, it is unclear which will be the clean energy systems of the future for the different segments of the maritime, port and logistics sector, with several candidates (batteries, hydrogen, ammonia, etc). This situation produces risk of medium-term technical obsolescence of the investments that need to be done today. In order to pave the way to implement the carbon footprint reduction measures, it is of vital importance to find solutions that effectively and efficiently achieve the reduction targets while minimising the required investments and its associated risks.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for eager-to-grow startups that will help assess the challenges that e-fuels will present in the future. Exploring the complete landscape: from the logistic chain, costs, security risk assessment, physical/chemical characteristics differences, to new technologies.

This is a great opportunity for the sector, and we hope to generate interest from the most talented startups!

We invite you to take a last look at our acceleration call and register now, last days of the open call!

Apply for the Acceleration Call!