Can we improve the shipping container?

Can we improve the shipping container?

Author: BBC World Service August 16, 2024 Duration: 32:34

It's a simple metal box that moves nearly all of our goods around the world. Designed for uniformity and interchangeability, the shipping container has reshaped global trade and our lives in the nearly 70 years since its creation.

But listener Paul wants to know if these heavy steel containers could be made with lighter materials to cut down on the fuel needed to transport them, especially when they're empty. Could we make shipping containers a more efficient process and reduce the shipping industry’s sizable greenhouse gas emissions?

Host Anand Jagatia travels to Europe's largest port in Rotterdam looking for answers. Speaking to environmental scientists and industry insiders along the way, he takes a look at how the humble container might be modified to once again remake global shipping, from materials, to designs, to how it’s shipped. And thinking outside the box, we explore which innovations might benefit the whole system – from machine learning to new, carbon-free energy sources.

For an industry that’s not always quick to change, we speak with the changemakers trying to disrupt the way 90% of the stuff we buy moves, in hope of a greener future.

Featuring: Maarten van Oosten - Port of Rotterdam Authority Marc Levinson - historian, economist and author Greg Keoleian - School for Environmental Sustainability and Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan Hans Broekhuis - Holland Container Innovations Trine Nielsen, Flexport Tristan Smith - University College London Elianne Wieles – Deep Sea Carriers, Port of Rotterdam

Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Sam Baker Editor: Cathy Edwards Production Coordinator: Ishmael Soriano Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood

(Photo: Port of Rotterdam, Maasvlakte Deep Sea Carrier Area. Credit: Sam Baker, BBC)


Curiosity drives discovery, and CrowdScience from the BBC World Service is built entirely on that principle. Each episode begins not with a scripted lesson, but with a question sent in by a listener from anywhere in the world. These aren't simple queries with easy answers; they are the wonderfully complex, often quirky puzzles about everyday phenomena and cosmic mysteries that make us all stop and wonder. What does silence sound like? Could we ever photosynthesize like plants? How does a crowd's mood physically spread? The team then embarks on a genuine investigative journey, tracking down the specialists at the very edge of our understanding-neuroscientists, ecologists, physicists, and engineers-to piece together credible, compelling answers. Listening to this podcast feels like having a direct line to the labs and field sites where knowledge is being created. The conversations are deep yet accessible, transforming abstract concepts into relatable stories. It’s a collective exploration where listener curiosity sets the agenda, making each episode a unique and democratic look at the machinery of our world and beyond. You become part of a global community pondering life, Earth, and the universe, one thoughtful question at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

CrowdScience
Podcast Episodes
Why are twins special? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:28
No one really cares that CrowdScience listener Sam has a younger brother, but they do care about his sister. In fact, they’re fascinated by her. That’s because Sam and his sister are fraternal twins. He’s been wondering…
How can we persuade more people to cycle? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:28
Cycling is good for our health, good for the planet, and it can be an efficient way of moving around busy cities. But despite all the rational arguments for it, in most cities the number of people who get on their bikes…
Was there an idyllic time before carnivores? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:28
Was there ever a time when life on earth was peaceful? Free of violence? No predators, no prey, just... vibes? Or has nature always been 'Red in Tooth and Claw'? Have we always been eating each other? Our listener Scott…
What’s that background hum I hear? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:21
In the dead of night at his home in Machinjiri, Malawi, CrowdScience listener John can hear a small, but persistent, hum. Whenever it’s quiet enough, the hum is there – but what’s causing it? And is John the only one who…
What on earth is quantum? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:28
Listener Christine wants to understand one of the strangest phenomena in the universe. But to get to grips with it, she’ll need a crash course in the bizarre behaviour of the very small. Here, things don’t act the way yo…
Can eating honey help save bees? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:50
CrowdScience listener Saoirse is vegan and doesn’t eat honey. But she’s been wondering - might honey actually have environmental benefits, by giving bee populations a boost? To find out, presenter Anand Jagatia dons a be…
Is my yoghurt really alive? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:27
Bulgaria is famous for its yoghurt, a fermented milk food full of ‘good’ bacteria that has kept hungry Bulgarians healthy for over 4000 years. Inspired by that, and a question from a CrowdScience listener in California U…
Is red sky at night really sailor’s delight? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:49
You may have grown up hearing the saying “red sky at night, sailor’s delight, red sky in morning, sailor’s warning” - or maybe a variation of it. CrowdScience listener Alison, who sees many dazzling red skies from her ho…
Why can't I fall asleep? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:36
Some people fall asleep almost as soon as their head touches the pillow, while for others it can take hours of tossing and turning. CrowdScience listener Assia needs at least 45 minutes to get to sleep: it's always taken…
Can we feed everyone? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:27
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, 800 million people are going to bed hungry every night, but 2 billion people in the world are malnourished. Farmers across the globe produce enough food…