Bloom Energy and Samsung announced a partnership this week, heralding solid-oxide fuel cells as the maritime industry’s long-awaited solution to clean energy, but full decarbonization seems far from their solution. Currently most ships run on something called “bunker fuel” the particularly noxious remains after the best parts have been removed from crude oil to create gasoline and other plastics and chemicals. The partnership’s new Aframax design boasts a new electricity generating system, using rare earth materials within fuel-cells but which are essentially powered by natural gas. Fuel cells developed by Bloom have been traditionally used to power buildings and data centers, with natural gas passing through the solid-oxide cells producing energy with what are claimed to be reduced emissions. However,…