At the Port of Gothenburg it is possible to sniff out ships that are being less than honest when it comes to emissions. Chalmers University Technology, in collaboration with the Port of Gothenburg, has fitted a ‘sniffer’ at the entrance to the port. The port now hopes that this technology will prove effective.
From January 1, stricter emission regulations for ships will be introduced in the Baltic Sea, North Sea and English Channel, what is known as the SECA area. The regulations mean that the sulphur content in marine fuel is not permitted to exceed 0.1 per cent.
The potential for control was thought to be limited but here at the Port of Gothenburg the technology is already in place to sniff out vessels that are cheating with marine fuel,” said Edvard Molitor, Senior Manager Environment at the Port of Gothenburg.
The ‘sniffer’ has been developed by Chalmers University Technology with support from Vinnova, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and Gothenburg Port Authority.
Johan Mellqvist, Associate Professor at the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at Chalmers University of Technology, said:
“We have worked for almost 10 years to produce methods to monitor compliance with environmental regulations at sea, both from fixed measuring stations such as this and from aircraft. We have monitoring technology that is unique and we are simply waiting for the go-ahead from the Swedish authorities before we can begin using the technology actively.”
High-tech equipment
The sniffer looks no more remarkable than a small fridge. The yellow box is 45 centimetres high and contains high-tech equipment that analyses the sulphur content in the exhaust plume. The sniffer measures the sulphur and carbon dioxide content in the gas emissions, thus revealing the sulphur content in the fuel.
Using sniffer technology, more than 5,000 exhaust plumes have been measured in recent years at the entrance to the Port of Gothenburg. Following extensive trials, the technology is now ready for use to indicate if a ship is cheating with its fuel.
Edvard Molitor explained: “Serious shipping companies are actively looking for measures to ensure compliance with the sulphur directive. The industry is concerned that certain other parties will not follow the rules and that it will lead to a distortion in competition. Our hope is that the technology will be used to monitor compliance with the sulphur directive.”
Port of Gothenburg rewarding system based on CSI
With effect from 2015, The Port of Gothenburg will use two different environmental indexes as a basis for the reward system – Environmental Ship Index (ESI) and Clean Shipping Index (CSI). In the new Port Tariff for 2015, ships that are classified according to ESI and which have 30 points or more will receive a 10 per cent discount (based on GT). Ships that achieve green standard according to CSI will receive a 10 per cent discount (based on GT).
Source and Image Credit: Port of Gothenburg
In the start, I was open with you propecia before and after has changed my subsistence. It has become much more fun, and now I have to run. Just as it is incredible to sit.
