Master's student investigates potential of electric shipping

Stephan Geins. Picture: private

Electrification of liner shipping to improve the carbon footprint of large cities? Stephan Geins, a student in the Automotive & Mobility Management master's degree program at THI Business School, investigated the potential of this idea in his master's thesis. His conclusion: around 45 percent of all inner-city ferry services worldwide would be suitable for electrification. By 2050, that figure could be as high as 60 percent. Since the UN (United Nations) assumes that almost three quarters of the world's population will live in cities by then, electric ships would offer enormous optimization potential for the CO2 balance.

The Automotive & Mobility Management master’s degree program is concerned with holistic mobility concepts for all modes of transport, from cars to ships to passenger drones. Geins wrote his master's thesis in cooperation with the company Torqeedo from Gilching.  Prof. Dr. Thomas Becker was his supervisor. Practical collaboration with corporate partners from industry is an integral part of the studies at THI Business School.