Gavin Allwright
International Windship Association (IWSA)
Gavin Allwright is the Secretary General of the International Windship Association (IWSA). Established in 2014, this not-for-profit has grown to 130+ members from across the shipping industry and is working to promote and facilitate the uptake of wind propulsion solutions in commercial shipping. Alongside his work as association secretary, he also leads the policy work stream, requiring regular attendance at IMO, EU and national government level meetings and sits on the stakeholders advisory committee for the MTCC network at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Gavin is also a non-executive board member for the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), a work package leader on the EU Interreg Wind Assist Ship Propulsion (WASP) and advisor on various shipping decarbonisation projects. He is a regular guest lecturer at the UN World Maritime University (WMU) and holds a Masters degree in Sustainable Development, specialising in small scale sustainable shipping and logistics in developing countries and was an expert reviewer for the IPCC special report on 1.5C climate change.
Re-wind not rewind: Wind propulsion & decarbonisation
Direct wind energy as propulsion for ships has a long history, however the resurgence in wind propulsion isn’t based on nostalgia, but firmly rooted in economic and environmental imperatives. What industry can ignore an free energy source that is abundant, delivered to the point of use without new infrastructure or storage, available worldwide today and harnessed using state-of-the-art tech available now. How does wind fit into decarbonisation pathways? What is the current market status and forecasts for growth? How are remaining barriers to scaling wind being tackled with the latest project news, collaborations etc.?