Ship emissions – Officer of the Watch

Black Carbon Emissions from Shipping

August 19, 2015 by Officer of the Watch Leave a Comment

This past January, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) made long-anticipated progress on the definition of black carbon from shipping. After four years of agonizing debate, the subcommittee on Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) recommended that the Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) accept the definition used in this landmark paper by Tami Bond et al., and move forward with its work plan on black carbon. Next steps include developing a standardized way to measure black carbon and investigating potential control options.

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Filed Under: FEATURED AUTHORS Tagged With: black carbon, Commercial, hsqee, HSSQE, Ship emissions

Shipping the Final EU Climate Frontier

February 27, 2014 by Officer of the Watch 1 Comment

During the annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change summit, it is worth remembering that there is one huge industry that has so far managed to evade any formalised efforts at emissions reductions. Every industry and transport sector in the European Union has greenhouse-gas emissions reduction measures in place, except for the shipping sector. The EU has established goals on the emissions reductions it wants to achieve from the sector, but seems to have no intention of enacting anything that will bring it anywhere near those goals, anytime soon.

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Filed Under: OOW FOCUS Tagged With: CO2, European Union, greenhouse gas, HSSQE, NOx, Ship emissions, SOx

GHG Emissions from Ships and The MRV Proposal

November 12, 2013 by Officer of the Watch Leave a Comment

Shipping is the only sector without an EU cap on emissions. In 2009, the EU committed to include shipping in its climate policy but instead the Commission proposed last year only to monitor CO2 emissions. While the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) proposal is a step in the right direction, it lacks ambition and will have little impact if left unchanged. It can be strengthened to create a MRV system that may not only be used for CO2, but also for SOx and NOx – harmful air pollutants. To actually reduce emissions, unreliable monitoring methods should be removed, and data transparency should be ensured. Finally, there should be a path for transition of MRV requirements into real emissions-reduction measures.

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Filed Under: OOW FOCUS Tagged With: bunker delivery note, CO2, emission monitoring, fuel flow meters, HSSQE, MRV, NOx, Ship emissions, SOx

NOx Emissions from Shipping: Where Are We? What are the Perspectives?

November 6, 2013 by Officer of the Watch 1 Comment

At its 65th session, the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) reached an agreement in principle to postpone the international NOx emissions limits for new ships from 2016 to 2021. This IMO decision needs to be confirmed by vote of all Parties to MARPOL Annex VI at the next MEPC meeting in April 2014. A confirmation of this decision in April 2014 would constitute a complete u-turn by the IMO on ship emission regulations and could seriously compromise the credibility of MARPOL Annex VI. The EU and its Members States, owning collectively the world’s largest merchant fleet, need to shoulder their responsibilities and help reverse the tide at the IMO on this issue. In addition, serious consideration of the problem of shipping NOx emissions should be given in the context of the 2013 EU Year of Air.