Numbers from here
The theoretical carrying capacity of vessels for different energy sources and clean energy technologies varies enormously (Table 5.2). Of all fossil fuels, oil can be most easily transported, with a single large vessel able to carry roughly 1 700 GWh of energy – equivalent to the yearly oil consumption of roughly 175 000 internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. Among clean energy technologies, roughly 2 GW of solar PV modules could fit in a single container ship – roughly equivalent to Belgium’s solar PV capacity additions in 2023. But solar PV modules are capital goods, while fossil fuels are consumable. That number of modules would be able to generate electricity equivalent to the needs of half a million European households for the duration of the modules’ lifetime – roughly a quarter of a century. On the contrary, an LNG vessel carrying the equivalent amount of energy would satisfy that electricity demand for less than six months
This post literally makes no sense. What is the purpose of container ships, are they just using it as a unit of measurement. In that case what is they journey of the ship have to do with anything.
I figured it was in response to people using the ships as a gotcha. Pointing out that solar panels are manufactured using power that, itself, isn’t green yet, and are shipped using non-green methods. If done in good faith, I’d suspect the were unfamiliar with using one existing process to bootstrap a new one, but it’s usually just another way of saying we should maintain the status quo (however bad) until its replacement is absolutely perfect.
About 40% of shipping by tonnage today is moving fossil fuels around. If we move to renewables, this pretty much goes away.