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Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi
Working to protect people and our shared planet.

Marine Edge: Saving Money and Our Climate Through Smarter Shipping

Marine Edge's innovative solutions have significant potential to both save money and our shared planet. Photo courtesy of Marine Edge.

When it comes to saving our shared planet, a key challenge has long been Cargo ships. Indeed, they are one of the most significant fuel-consuming and carbon emitting industries. While the large engines propelling merchant ships can be quite efficient in stable conditions, they become less efficient when dealing with waves, incurring much higher fuel consumption, operational cost and carbon emissions. The impact of the waves on fuel efficiency is tremendous, and in these times of longer shipping routes due to geopolitical conflict and elevated oil price, it directly impacts the cost of shipping and ultimately the cost of living. Luckily for the world, a team of top talent from Marine Edge has great solutions.

Marine Edge was born when navy captain Nevo Dotan and entrepreneur Amichay Gross, who studied aerospace engineering together at the Technion, met again after 20 years. They joined forces with Mark Moran, a UC Berkley graduate software expert, to embark on a mission to fight the climate crisis. The three founded and are leading Marine Edge with the goal to reduce fuel-burn and emissions at sea.

I am delighted to bring you an interview with Amichay Gross who spent the first decade of his career in aerospace, and then went on to be an entrepreneur focusing on life-changing technology. Having served on the board of the Geophysical Institute, and currently working in the maritime space, his experience provides him with a wide perspective of technology on earth, in the air, and out at sea. Amichay received his BSc and MSc in Aerospace Engineering (with distinction) from the Technion in Haifa, and his MBA from the Reichman University in Herzliya (formerly IDC).

Amichay H Gross, Executive Chairman of Marine Edge is a pioneer in climate solutions. Photo courtesy of Marine Edge.

You have a great solution. How does it work?

Our approach is based on harvesting energy from the drivetrain when loads are low (“coming down from the wave”, as we call it) and supplying it back to assist the engine when loads are high (“climbing the wave”). This provides more stable conditions for the engine to operate at higher efficiency.

Similar to charging a car’s battery rolling down a hill and using that energy to go up the next one, our patented regenerative technology negates the impact of each wave, by analyzing load changes and flattening them for the engine, significantly saving fuel and reducing emissions.

Our system includes sensors that record load changes, inverters that control an electric motor, and a supercapacitor bank that stores the energy of each cycle. Managed by our proprietary algorithm and software, all components work in concert to improve fuel economy and lower emissions.

Why is solving this problem important?

While an average car consumes 1 ton of fuel per year, most cargo ships consume between 20 and 80 tons per day, each. A large container ship can consume hundreds of tons per day, annually equivalent to over 100,000 cars.

Burning a ton of fuel emits roughly 3 tons of CO2. So, tens of thousands of ships emitting between 60 and 240 tons of CO2 per day, each, have a tremendous effect on our climate.

On the financial side, the majority of a cargo ship’s operating expenses comes from the cost of fuel, and its consumption impacts ship profitability.

For me, it’s hearing my 12-year-old son tell someone what we do, and how clearly he articulates the importance of our mission. For future generations to have a livable climate, we must act now.

What proof/studies show that your solution has potential/works?

In our early days we set out to prove our concept on a small scale demonstrator we built, and showed that even partial flattening of load variations can reduce 10% of the fuel consumption of a diesel generator.

Today, we are in the process of equipping a small cargo ship with our system, while building our own development and testing facility. The facility will simulate load patterns recorded from actual seaborne vessels and implement our intervention, to quantify its effect on that specific vessels, in the route and conditions it was recorded in. In addition to R&D work, the facility will help clients quantify their potential benefit, and provide platform for future applications and joint R&D.

How do you go about doing this?

Our system can be fitted to new builds, naturally, but can also be retrofitted on to existing ships when they go into dock for maintenance (every few years) and upgrades.

We equip the ship with sensors (torque, fuel, incline), electric inverters and a motor, an energy reservoir, and our managing computer. All are neatly tucked away in the engine room below deck, with no external parts above deck, making it suitable for any type of ship using any type of fuel (including LNG, ammonium, and in the future, hydrogen) sailing in any weather condition.

Our first step is to cooperate with shipyards for installation of our systems on our clients’ vessels. In parallel, we plan to form alliances with equipment manufacturers to have our technology included in their offerings for either new builds or upgrades.

What have been some of your biggest successes?

I think the most important thing in a startup is the ‘voice of the customer’. In our case this includes shipping companies, shipyards and drivetrain manufacturers.

One of the things that puts the wind in our sails, so to speak, is the enthusiasm with which we are accepted when meeting potential clients. While still at an early stage, we’ve already received letters of intent from several shipping companies that want to implement our technology, and an MOU for cooperation with a large shipyard in Europe, and we are in dialog with drivetrain manufacturers for potential cooperation.

Usually, a startup needs to generate the need among clients, but with Marine Edge I feel that the world of maritime transportation gets it, and wants what we offer.

With any start up, there are times when you hit a brick wall. Can you give us an example of that and how you pivoted to do something that worked better?

For us it was timing. We came up with the idea for Marine Edge right when the International Maritime Organization (IMO) introduced new harsh regulations on fuel efficiency and emissions, theoretically making it excellent timing for fundraising. That was early 2020, just before COVID came into our lives, diverting the focus and funding to the medical industry.

We decided to literally put our money where our mouths are, and bootstrapped to move our vision from idea to technology. Self-funded, we designed and built a small-scale, ground-based demonstrator, developed a preliminary version of our software, and proved our technology can work.

This early success motivated us to dedicate our full attention to it, and eventually gave investors the confidence to come aboard and join our important mission.

As you move ahead, are you looking for partners? Where and how can others help?

Shipping is considered heavy industry, so we are looking for strong industrial partners that can utilize our innovation in conjunction with their products, to expand and scale up our operations.

On the aspect of investments, we prefer to partner with investors who see clear value in solving real world problems, including the hard ones, and view efficiency-improvement as a substantial tool for fighting climate change and alleviating economical deficiencies.

What is your advice for other people who are just getting their start on climate issues?

Many initiatives are focused on monitoring, quantification, regulation and commerce, but only a few propose new technology that simultaneously makes financial and environmental sense.

So, I would tell people getting into the climate business to focus on making something that physically changes the way something operates, and to utilize technology to create a better way for things to work. I feel very strongly about that.

In one sentence, I’d say go for the hard things, because the rest will be done anyway.

If folks want to know more about your company, how where can they find information or connect?

You can check out our website at https://www.marine-edge.com and follow the Marine Edge LinkedIn page for updates. You can also approach me directly through LinkedIn.

About the Author
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi is the co-founder/director of the Mizrahi Family Charitable Fund (a DAF). She has worked directly with presidents, prime ministers, 48 governors, 85 Ambassadors, and leaders at all levels to successfully educate and advocate on key issues. In July, 2023 Mizrahi was appointed to serve as representative of philanthropy on the Maryland Commission on Climate Change. She has a certificate in Climate Change Policy, Economics and Politics from Harvard. Her work has won numerous awards and been profiled in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Inside Philanthropy, PBS NewsHour, Washington Post, Jerusalem Post, Jewish Sages of Today, and numerous other outlets. Mizrahi has published more than 300 articles on politics, public policy, disability issues, climate and innovations. The views in her columns are her own, and do not reflect those of any organization.
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