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Mr Nobu Su [pictured], chairman of Today Makes Tomorrow (TMT) (formerly Taiwan Maritime Transportation), has confirmed that he "successfully registered several patents in 2015", via a statement today.

One invention developed by Mr. Su, called Hybrid Ship, consists of a conventionally driven main propeller and an electrically driven duct propeller; the combination of which allows for reduced fuel consumption, particularly when a vessel is travelling with little ballast, TMT says.

Another invention, the Mahoubin Bottle Shape LNG Tank, which received a patent from the Japanese Patent Office in 2015, is said to make possible the development of the first hybrid ice-class LNG ship. Su has also revealed this concept to the Russian Registry and other International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) members in order to address the upcoming Polar-class regulation.

In respect of the Hybrid Ship patent registration, Mr. Su noted: "I trust that as more patent offices register Hybrid Ship, the technology will be more readily adopted and will help tackle another serious problem, which is the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens through ballast water into the ocean. With the Hybrid Ship technology, a vessel requires little ballast water, and therefore reduces the risk of water contamination affecting the Arctic and its natural beauty."

TMT said: "A new epoch is set to begin in the wake of COP21, during which the first universal climate agreement was unanimously ratified by 196 delegations, including support from President Obama of the United States and Chinese leaders. While progress has been made since the Kyoto Convention, i.e. COP3, it is clear that the real solution must come from justifiable and enforceable actions that contribute significantly to the daily reduction in CO(2) emissions - a key cause of global warming - by the next century. Moreover, the CO(2) reduction amount that the COP21 climate agreement has set for 2030 is based on a percentage criterion rather than total volume, which would have been a more effective gauge; hence, still stricter requirements should be considered in the future."

Mr. Su remarked: "CO(2) emissions from airplanes and ships are ignored by the COP21 agreement. Their combined emissions are equivalent to the total CO(2) emissions of Russia or Japan, which accounts for around 5 to 6 percent of the world's total CO(2) source. The Paris Convention of 1865 in relation to Intellectual Properties was useless since a clause exempted ships and airplanes from restrictions as they entered into different countries. Consequently, inventors are less inclined to develop green technologies for airplanes and ships with the exception of drones. Agreements made during the past two Paris conventions need to be amended and backed with patent infringement penalties. The only way to reduce CO(2) emissions by the end of the century is through technological innovation. I have raised this issue so people will realize that airplanes, ships and all other forms of mobility need to be included in the Paris Convention."

TMT added: "The Arctic Ocean is an important setting where enforceable technologies for massively reducing CO(2) emissions are most needed. Technologies that allow ships to travel between Europe and the Far East using the shortest routes and thereby reduce energy consumption and CO(2) emissions are among the means that would help combat global warming."