Following the letter of several shipping companies to Clean Arctic Alliance (CAA) about the VLSFO black carbon emissions matter, the association gave its respond by writing an open letter. Specifically, Clean Arctic Alliance seeks for greater engagement and cooperation between all the stakeholders.
In fact, CAA asks the industry organizations whether they could collaborate, by developing data on the VLSFO matter, in order to ensure that the new fuels don’t produce higher emissions and enhance the measures to reduce the black carbon emissions coming from marine fuels.
Namely, through the letter CAA asks companies the following questions:
1. Will you work with us to ensure that all fuel parameters and data that are likely to affect emissions
are made public, and in the case of fuels that are still in development before they are brought to
market?
2. Will you work with us to ensure that no new fuel placed on the market results in increases in black
carbon or other air pollutants?
3. Will you work with us to expedite measures to reduce black carbon emissions from the burning of
existing fuels?
At the same time, CAA recommended that the IMO’s Pollution Prevention and Response (PPR) Sub-Committee is an appropriate forum to debate on the matter hand.
Although, the Alliance keeps believing that the new VLSFOs are highly aromatic, while claimed that the organizations have no evidence to support the opposite.
“Whatever the market share of highly aromatic blends within the overall VLSFO market [editor’s emphasis added], we believe that members of the marine fuel industry have a professional duty to alert the appropriate authorities at both national government level and at the IMO, when a situation arises where members are developing fuel types that would contradict established policy efforts to reduce black carbon – especially given that many of your own websites claim that you take climate change seriously” the letter concluded.
