Shipping lines act on emissions - Transport & Logistics News

Posted - Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:51:59 +1100 - Transport & Logistics News

he World Shipping Council and its members have proposed to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and its member governments a new global Vessel Efficiency System, which would improve the carbon and fuel efficiency of the world's fleet and therefore reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The proposal is for the IMO to apply vessel efficiency design standards for both new and existing vessels in the world's fleet. Newly built vessels would be subject to mandatory efficiency standards requiring new ships to be built with features and technologies that further improve the energy efficiency of the vessels to reach defined levels. These standards would be similar in nature to the fuel efficiency standards required of cars and trucks in many countries around the world today. The standards would also be tiered with higher standards required over time as technology developments allow further improvements....

http://www.truckworld.com.au/absolutenm/templates/Transport-and-Logistics-News.aspx?articleid=1313&zoneid=61

CA Assembly: Resolution Calls for 200-Mile Strict Emission Control Zone for Ships - Pacific Maritime Online

Posted - Thursday, January 28, 2010

The California Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution to support the creation of a new standard for oceangoing vessel emissions within 200 miles of the California coast.

The resolution, introduced by Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) with more than 50 Assembly co-authors and approved 62-6, supports the establishment of a geographic zone along North America's coastlines where mandatory measures regarding emissions from ships would prevent, reduce, and control air pollution from nitrogen oxide, sulfur oxide and particulate matter emissions...

http://www.pmmonlinenews.com/2010/01/ca-assembly-resolution-calls-for-200.html

Regulatory Impact Analysis: Control of Emissions of Air Pollution from Category 3 Marine Diesel Engines - National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)

Posted - January 2010
Regulatory Impact Analysis:
Control of Emissions of Air Pollution from Category 3 Marine Diesel Engines

Executive Summary
EPA is finalizing emission standards for new Category 3 marine diesel engines (engines with per cylinder displacement at or above 30 liters) installed on U.S. vessels. The standards are part of a coordinated strategy to address emissions from ocean-going vessels (OGV) A and are an important step in EPA’s ongoing National Clean Diesel Campaign (NCDC).
Emissions from OGV remain at high levels. The Category 3 engines on these vessels use emission control technology that is comparable to that used by nonroad engines in the early 1990s, and use fuel that can have a sulfur content of 30,000 ppm or more. As a result, these engines emit high levels of pollutants that contribute to unhealthy air in many areas of the U.S. As we look into the future, however, emissions from ocean-going vessels are expected to become a dominant inventory source. This will be due to both emission reductions from other mobile sources as new emission controls go into effect and to the anticipated activity growth for ocean transportation.
Our coordinated strategy to control emissions from ocean-going vessels consists of actions at both the national and international levels. It includes: (1) the engine and fuel controls we are finalizing in this action under our Clean Air Act authority; (2) the proposalB submitted by the United States Government to the International Maritime Organization to amend MARPOL Annex VI to designate U.S. coasts as an Emission Control Area (ECA)C in which all vessels, regardless of flag, would be required to meet the most stringent engine and marine fuel sulfur requirements in Annex VI; and (3) the new engine emission and fuel sulfur limits contained in the amendments to Annex VI that are applicable to all vessels regardless of flag and that are implemented in the U.S. through the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS)...

Complete report at

http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/P1005ZGH.TXT?ZyActionD=ZyDocument&Client=EPA&Index=2006+Thru+2010&Docs=&Query=&Time=&EndTime=&SearchMethod=3&TocRestrict=n&Toc=&TocEntry=&QField=pubnumber^%22420R09019%22&QFieldYear=&QFieldMonth=&QFieldDay=&UseQField=pubnumber&IntQFieldOp=1&ExtQFieldOp=1&XmlQuery=&File=D%3A\zyfiles\Index%20Data\06thru10\Txt\00000013\P1005ZGH.txt&User=ANONYMOUS&Password=anonymous&SortMethod=h|-&MaximumDocuments=10&FuzzyDegree=0&ImageQuality=r75g8/r75g8/x150y150g16/i425&Display=p|f&DefSeekPage=x&SearchBack=ZyActionL&Back=ZyActionS&BackDesc=Results%20page&MaximumPages=1&ZyEntry=1&SeekPage=x

World Shipping Council proposes global Vessel Efficiency System - Maritime Information Center

Posted - Friday, 22 January 2010 09:26 MIC portal

The World Shipping Council and its members have proposed to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and its member governments a new global Vessel Efficiency System,
which would improve the carbon and fuel efficiency of the world’s fleet and therefore reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ..

http://www.micportal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3176:world-shipping-council-proposes-global-vessel-efficiency-system-&catid=24:safety-prevention-losses&Itemid=37

World Shipping Council proposes global Vessel Efficiency System to reduce carbon emissions - Fresh Plaza

Posted Sunday January 24 2010 - Fresh Plaza

The World Shipping Council and its members have proposed to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and its member governments a new global Vessel Efficiency System, which would improve the carbon and fuel efficiency of the world’s fleet and therefore reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal is for the IMO to apply vessel efficiency design standards for both new and existing vessels in the world’s fleet. Newly built vessels would be subject to mandatory efficiency standards requiring new ships to be built with features and technologies that further improve the energy efficiency of the vessels to reach defined levels. These standards would be similar in nature to the fuel efficiency standards required of cars and trucks in many countries around the world today. The standards would also be tiered with higher standards required over time as technology developments allow further improvements...

http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=57536

New Clean-Fuel Rules For Ships Could Actually Hurt the Environment - Brainicane

Posted - Wednesday January 20, 2010 - Brainicane

The International Maritime Organization, which oversees the shipping industry, will begin enforcing rules this July that mandate cleaner fuel to cut air pollution and acid rain. Ironically, this eco-motivated change will undo one of our strongest, if accidental, defenses against climate change.

The regulations call for reducing the sulfur in shipping fuel-which is basically unrefined petroleum sludge-from 4.5 to 0.5 percent by 2020. Scientists project that this switch will cut sulfur-pollution-related premature deaths from 87,000 worldwide per year to 46,000. But the sulfate aerosols spewing from supertanker smokestacks also produce planet-cooling clouds called ship tracks, which form when water droplets coalesce around sulfate particles. These clouds, which are big enough to be seen from orbit, reflect sunlight back into space, preventing the equivalent of up to 40 percent of the warming caused by human-produced carbon dioxide. “The IMO has done a good job addressing air-quality issues,” says Daniel Lack, an atmospheric scientist at NOAA. “But there’s a climate impact that wasn’t necessarily considered.”

Worse, the fuel switch won’t improve ships’ carbon emissions-if the industry were a country, it would be the sixth-largest CO2 emitter. The IMO plans to regulate CO2, but until then, it might be best to leave well enough alone.

http://www.brainicane.com/2010/01/19/new-clean-fuel-rules-for-ships-could-actually-hurt-the-environment/

Don’t think the tanker industry is complacent - Ship Management International

Posted - Tuesday January 19, 2010 Ship Management International

While tanker shipping continues to deliver ever-improving performance, the tanker industry is definitely not complacent and is wedded to maintaining its aims to develop and adopt best practices in shipping through its commitment to continuous improvement, said INTERTANKO’s Managing Director Dr Peter Swift.

Against a backdrop of reduced demand for most ship types coming at a time of rapid growth in fleet supply, and consequentially lowered freight rates, the challenges for tanker owners today are particularly pressing, he told the IMarEST/RINA joint branch on the Isle of Man..

http://www.shipmanagementinternational.com/?p=1501

JAPAN TO PROPOSE DETAILED MARINE FUEL LEVY PLAN - Planeta Azul

Posted - Sunday January 16, 2010 - Planeta Azul

Japan, one of the world's top shipping operators, will submit details of its proposal for an international levy on marine fuel ahead of a meeting of the U.N.'s shipping agency in March, a government official said.

TOKYO, Japan; january, 18, 2010.- Under the proposal, which was first touted last year as an alternative to an idea supported by some European countries to introduce an emissions trading system in the sector, money raised would be used to help cut carbon dioxide emissions relating to shipping in developing countries......

http://www.planetaazul.com.mx/www/2010/01/18/japan-to-propose-detailed-marine-fuel-levy-plan/

2010 outlook: Shipping and carbon emissions - Carbonpositive

Posted - Friday, 8 January 2010 - Carbonpositive

While disappointment over the lack of direction from the UN climate conference on reducing carbon emissions in the maritime sector was the post script to a horror year for shipping in 2009, Copenhagen’s failure does at least renew the opportunity for the world’s supreme maritime body to plot its own course on greenhouse action.

The emissions challenge comes on top of a host of pressures on the shipping sector. The financial crisis and the world recession left the industry with low freight rates and a great excess of capacity going into 2009 - with a not-insignificant volume of new buildings on slipways around the world threatening to worsen the situation. While 2009 ended better than it started, no one appears to be predicting anything more than a modest recovery in the world economy and the shipping sector in 2010, but there is confidence that at least the worst is passed....

http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=1798

Analysis: Aviation and Shipping Emissions after Copenhagen - Transport & Environmental

Posted - Monday, January 04, 2010 - Transport & Environmental

The outcome of the Copenhagen summit proved extremely disappointing as regards international aviation and shipping emissions. Although more discussion amongst countries on bunker fuels at the UNFCCC occurred in the past three months than during the last ten years, it proved impossible to bridge the continuing differences.

The final draft text of the bunkers working group secured no consensus and no mention whatsoever was made concerning bunkers in the Copenhagen Agreement – save a single reference to innovative sources of finance which could be construed as including bunkers.....

http://www.transportenvironment.org/News/2009/12/Analysis-Aviation-and-Shipping-Emissions-after-Copenhagen

COP 15 and the shipping industry - HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS WORLDWIDE

Posted - Monday, 11 January 2010 - HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS WORLDWIDE

...Hopes for shipping
For the shipping industry we were expecting COP 15 to leave the regulatory responsibility for international marine bunker fuels with IMO. With most vessels registered in developing countries (approx. 70%), and given the ease with which a vessel can be re-flagged, an additional expectation was that a way would be found to accommodate the IMO principle of ‘equal treatment for all ships’ regardless of flag, rather than the application of the UNFCCC principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility and capability’ (CBDR). 1 The CBDR principle requires that developed countries take responsibility for their historical GHG emissions and therefore that they recognise they must reduce both their GHG emissions as well as provide funding for the costs of adaptation in developing countries. CBDR is part of both the UNFCCC (UN Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed in 1992) and the Kyoto Protocol (agreed in 1997)....

http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task

Report calls for emission-cutting rules for shipping - Hellemic Shipping News Worldwide

Posted - Friday, 08 January 2010 - HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS WORLDWIDE

Global emissions from planes and ships will triple by mid-century unless policies are put in place to curb their greenhouse gas output, according to a new report from an environmental think tank. That rate of growth could be made 50 percent lower by building more efficient jets, using alternative fuels in the aviation and maritime sectors and requiring ships to adopt practices such as operating at slower speeds, according to the assessment prepared by researchers from the University of California, Davis, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
"These sectors have gotten less attention, but their emissions are growing rapidly," said Judi Greenwald, vice president of innovative solutions at the center. "In the climate change world, you can't really ignore anything." ...

http://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=81627&Itemid=95

EU Sulphur Directive re 0.1% sulphur fuel in port – official transitional period for enforcement - Intertanko

Published: 21 December 2009 18:57 - Updated: 04 January 2010 16:01 - Intertanko

The European Commission (EC) has adopted a Recommendation on the safe implementation of the use of low sulphur fuel by ships at berth in ports of the European Community, having recognised that “there may be operational problems and safety risks associated with the use of the required fuels in ships that have not undergone technical adaptations,”.

From 1 January 2010, ships at berth in European Community ports are required to use marine fuels with a sulphur content not exceeding 0.1% by mass (Article 4b of Directive 1999/32/EC as amended by Directive 2005/33/EC). This has not changed. However, in consideration of their recent safety concerns, the Commission adopted 21 December 2009 a Recommendation aimed at Member States, which invites them, while enforcing the Directive, to consider the existence of detailed evidence of the steps taken by ships to ensure safe compliance with the Directive. Member States may consider the existence of an approved retrofit plan when assessing the degree of penalties to be applied to non-complying ships...

http://www.intertanko.com/

EPA Control of Greenhouse Gases from Mobile Sources: Ships - Congress and Law

Posted - Saturday, January 2, 2010 - Congress and Law
EPA Control of Greenhouse Gases from Mobile Sources: Ships
Three of the 10 petitions to EPA asking the agency to control greenhouse gas emissions concern
ocean-going ships (also referred to as marine engines and vessels) and (in two of the petitions)
their fuel. Although there is a wide range of estimates, the International Maritime Organization’s
consensus is that international shipping emitted 843 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide,
2.7% of global CO2 emissions in 2007. Including domestic shipping and fishing vessels larger
than 100 gross tonnes, the amount would increase to 1.019 billion tonnes, 3.3% of global
emissions.26 At these levels, only five countries (the United States, China, Russia, India, and
Japan) account for a higher percentage of the world total of CO2 emissions.27

In addition to the CO2 emissions, the low quality bunker fuel that ships use and the absence of
pollution controls result in significant emissions of black carbon and nitrogen oxides, which also
contribute to climate change. Refrigerants used on ships (hydrofluorcarbons and
perfluorocarbons—HFCs and PFCs) are also potent greenhouse gases when released to the
atmosphere. Thus, the total impact of ships on climate may be somewhat greater than 3%...

http://congressandlaw.blogspot.com/2010/01/epa-control-of-greenhouse-gases-from.html