Work to update the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions estimate for international shipping moved forward during an Expert Workshop at IMO Headquarters last week, (26 February to 1 March 2013), attended by more than one hundred participants from IMO Member Governments and Observer Organizations. A final study is expected to be delivered in 2014.
The Workshop followed the endorsement, in principle, by IMO’s Marine
Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), at its sixty-fourth session in
October 2012 of the outline for an update of the GHG emissions estimate.
The current (Second) IMO GHG Study 2009 had estimated that
international shipping emitted 870 million tonnes, or about 2.7% of the
global man-made emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2007. Exhaust gases
are the primary source of GHG emissions from ships, with CO2 the most
important GHG, both in terms of quantity and of global warming
potential.
As the current estimate contained in the Second IMO GHG Study 2009 does
not take account of the economic downturn experienced globally since
2008, an updated GHG emissions estimate should provide MEPC with
reliable and up-to-date information to base its decisions on when
considering further possible measures to address GHG emissions from
international shipping. An updated emissions estimate would also
provide a baseline to enable the impact to be assessed of technical and
operational energy efficiency measures for international shipping that
entered into force on 1 January 2013 (read article on the amendments here).
The workshop, comprised of experts with demonstrable expertise and
experience in the field of estimating fuel consumption and GHG emissions
for the international maritime sector, considered the scope of the
Update Study, methodology and assumptions to be used in the update. The
Expert Workshop agreed that the primary focus of the Update Study should
be to update the CO2 emission estimates for international shipping. It
recommended that the MEPC agree Terms of Reference for the update
including the methodology, so that work could begin in 2013, with a view
to the final report of the Update Study being submitted to the 66th
session of the MEPC, to be held in 2014.
Noting that there have been improvements in both the availability and
quality of data since the Second IMO GHG Study was published in 2009,
the Expert Workshop recommended that the same approaches, both top-down
(based on fuel sales data) and bottom-up (based on ship activity data),
should be used in the Update Study to estimate GHG emissions for
international shipping.
It recommended that should there be adequate resources then the same
substances as those estimated by the Second IMO GHG Study 2009 should
also be estimated. In addition to CO2, a global estimate of emissions of
other GHGs and relevant substances emitted from ships, engaged in
international transport could include: methane (CH4), nitrous oxide
(N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulphur
hexafluoride (SF6), subject to data availability. Other relevant
substances that may contribute to climate change include: nitrogen
oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), carbon
monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM) and sulphur oxides (SOx).
A summary of the deliberations of the Expert Workshop will be provided as a report to MEPC 65, meeting in May this year.
Source: http://www.imo.org
http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Work-on-Updating-Greenhouse-Gas-Emissions-Estimate-for-International-Shipping-Moves-Forward/
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