Abstract:
Singapore International shipping underpins the global economy, moving roughly 90% of world trade by volume across highly integrated global supply chains. At the same time, the sector emits about 1 Gt CO₂ annually, or approximately 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with emissions projected to grow alongside trade. Decarbonising shipping is therefore not a peripheral challenge, but a prerequisite for a net-zero future. Yet shipping’s decarbonisation remains uniquely difficult. Vessels have long operational lifetimes, energy demand is high, production of alternatives to fossil fuels remains nascent, and their deployment must satisfy stringent safety, operational, and infrastructure constraints across a global system. In this seminar, I will discuss the work of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD), an independent action tank based in Singapore established to accelerate progress through large-scale, pre-competitive pilots. Over the past 4.5 years, GCMD has worked with more than 130 partners across the maritime value chain to demonstrate the first safe transfer of 2,700 metric tonnes of ammonia at anchorage in Western Australia; bunker and trace 3,400 metric tonnes of biofuels in Singapore and Rotterdam to strengthen supply-chain integrity; execute the world’s first offloading of onboard-captured and liquefied CO₂ in China, and subsequently demonstrate its use to recycle steel slag and produce precipitated calcium carbonate; and launch a US$35 million fund featuring a pay-as-you-save mechanism to accelerate the adoption of energy-efficiency technologies. Insights from these pilots have informed investment decisions, shaped policy discussions, and contributed to emerging standards and guidelines. The seminar also reflects on my transition from two decades of nanoscale materials research, spanning organic semiconductors and perovskite solar cells, to system-level decarbonisation, and on how my academic training has shaped my approach to tackling complex, urgent, real-world industry challenges.

Speaker Bio:
Lynn Loo is the Theodora D. ’78 and William H. Walton III ’74 Professor of Engineering at Princeton University and the inaugural CEO of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD), an independent international action tank headquartered in Singapore that is working with industry to accelerate shipping’s transition to low- and zero-carbon solutions.

Trained as a chemical engineer, Lynn’s work spans fundamental materials science, technology commercialization, and systems-scale decarbonization. At Princeton, her group pioneered see- through solar cells that wirelessly power smart windows to reduce building energy use and improve occupant comfort. This work received the 2020 Thomas Edison Patent Award and is being advanced through Andluca Technologies, a startup she co-founded.

At GCMD, she leads large-scale, pre-competitive initiatives in real operational and commercial settings, including the world’s first ship-to-ship transfer of ammonia at anchorage, biofuel supply-chain trials, the offloading and utilization of onboard captured and liquefied carbon dioxide, and the launch of the sector’s first retrofit fund to catalyze uptake of energy-efficiency technologies. GCMD now works with over 130 industry partners globally. A Member of the National Academy of Engineering, Lynn is a Fellow of AIChE, APS, and MRS, and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She was also featured on Lloyd’s List’s Top 100 People in Shipping list for her influence on the industry’s transition.