Tag: CO2

 The Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships Project (GloMEEP), which aims to support increased uptake and implementation of energy-efficiency measures for shipping, was formally launched on Monday 28 September in Singapore, at the IMO-Singapore Future-Ready Shipping 2015 conference.  This Global Environment Facility (GEF)/United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/IMO project, formally designated “Transforming the Global Maritime Transport Industry towards a Low Carbon Future through Improved Energy Efficiency”, will focus in particular on building capacity to implement technical and operational measures in developing countries, where shipping is increasingly concentrated.Funding for the two-year project was agreed in July. IMO will execute the project, which marks the beginning of a new blueprint for creating global, regional and national partnerships to build the capacity to address maritime energy efficiency and for countries to mainstream this issue within their own development policies, programmes and dialogues.Attending the GloMEEP launch were representatives of the lead pilot countries for the project: Argentina, China, Georgia, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Morocco, Panama, Philippines and South Africa. The lead pilot countries will be supported in taking a fast-track approach to pursuing relevant legal, policy and institutional reforms, driving national and regional government action and industry innovation to support the effective implementation of IMO’s energy efficiency requirements.  The ...

 DNV GL has issued article to provide an overview of how MRV will affect the maritime industry and what shipping companies need to do to achieve compliance. The regulation in a nutshellThe European Commission (EC) is bringing emissions from shipping into its 2009 climate and energy package. MRV is designed to progressively integrate maritime emissions into the EU’s policy for reducing domestic greenhouse gas emissions (EU regulation 2015/757). MRV requires ship owners and operators to annually monitor, report and verify CO2 emissions for vessels equal to or larger than 5,000 GT and which call at any EU port. The results will be published on a regular basis. Entered into force on 1 July 2015, the regulation will become fully effective on 1 January 2018.Shipping companies will need to prepare a monitoring plan by 31 August 2017 at the latest for each of their ships that falls under the jurisdiction of the regulation. They will have to monitor and report the verified amount of CO2 emitted by their vessels on voyages to, from and between EU ports and will also be required to provide information on energy efficiency parameters (see below). Data collection will start on a per-voyage basis from 1 January ...

 Increased greenhouse gas emissions from the release of carbon dioxide and methane contained in the Arctic permafrost could result in $43 trillion in additional economic damage by the end of the next century, according to researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Colorado.In a letter published today (21 September) in the journal Nature Climate Change, the researchers have for the first time modelled the economic impact caused by melting permafrost in the Arctic to the end of the twenty-second century, on top of the damage already predicted by climate and economic models.The Arctic is warming at a rate which is twice the global average, due to anthropogenic, or human-caused, greenhouse gas emissions. If emissions continue to rise at their current rates, Arctic warming will lead to the widespread thawing of permafrost and the release of hundreds of billions of tonnes of methane and CO2 - about 1,700 gigatonnes of carbon are held in permafrost soils in the form of frozen organic matter.Rising emissions will result in both economic and non-economic impacts, as well as a higher chance of catastrophic events, such as the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, increased flooding and extreme weather. ...

 In advance of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December, the global shipping industry, as represented by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), has launched some key messages to government negotiators, explaining the impressive progress the industry is making to reduce its carbon footprint. A new ICS fact sheet ‘Delivering CO2 Emission Reductions: Shipping is Part of the Solution’ can be downloaded at by clicking here.According to ICS, the global industry is already delivering carbon neutral growth having reduced total CO2 emissions by more than 10% since 2007, despite an increase in maritime trade. CO2 emissions from international shipping now represent just 2.2% of the world’s total CO2 emissions compared to 2.8% in 2007 (UN IMO Green House Gas Study, 2014).“These are genuine reductions through fuel efficiency, without the need for complex virtual measures such as carbon offsets,” said ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe.“With bigger ships, better engines and smarter speed management, the industry is confident of a 50% CO2 reduction by 2050 when the entire world fleet will comprise super fuel-efficient ships, many using clean fuels such as LNG.”But in the run-up to the Paris Conference, the shipping industry recognises that governments expect more. Shipping’s global regulator, the UN International Maritime ...

 The University College of London (UCL) Energy Institute was commissioned by the Royal Belgian Shipowners Association (RBSA) to provide further insights into CO2 emissions, specifically the Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI) and recent policy events, such as the EU MRV policy, through examining individual ship’s as well as fleets’ data over a 5 to 6 years timespan.The work carried out provided the association with an evidence-based opinion on the merits of different operational energy efficiency indices and preparing members for foreseeable future changes in the industry. The work also discusses the challenges for policymakers in implementing MRV given the uncertainty in the data and measures to sanitize the data for analysis.The Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI) was developed by the IMO in order to allow ships to monitor the carbon emissions of their shipping activities. The EEOI is the total carbon emissions in a given time period per unit of revenue tonne-miles. Variations in the index are mainly caused by three factors: the technical efficiency of the ship, the amount of cargo transported per unit of time, and variations in speed. However, as the EEOI is an aggregate number, it is difficult to identify the influence of these factors.The study ...

 Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) announced that it has started demonstration tests of a new windshield for containerships, which has the potential to reduce wind resistance, save fuel, and reduce CO2 emissions. MOL jointly developed the device with MOL Techno-Trade, Ouchi Ocean Consultant, Akishima Laboratory  and the University of Tokyo. The project was backed by the "Joint R&D for Industry Program", in which Nippon Kaiji Kyokai promotes wide-ranging R&D activities in cooperation with industry, government and academia.The new windshield was installed on the bow of the MOL-operated containership MOL MARVEL, and a demonstration test of its effectiveness in reducing CO2 emissions is under way.With today's larger containerships, the height of the containers loaded on their decks has increased, subjecting the vessels to greater wind resistance. MOL recognized the need to address this issue in a cost-effective way. Development of the new device began with an examination of the bow's aerodynamic form through wind tunnel testing. This led to the adoption of a horseshoe-shaped design, which encloses the front line of the stacked containers to maximize the wind resistance-reducing effect while minimizing the weight of the main unit. The new windshield has enough design strength to meet the ClassNK rules concerning wave impact ...

 The International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a two-year global maritime energy efficiency partnership project. The GloMEEP project, formally designated “Transforming the Global Maritime Transport Industry towards a Low Carbon Future through Improved Energy Efficiency”, aims to support increased uptake and implementation of energy-efficiency measures for shipping, focusing in particular on building capacity and skills to implement technical and operational measures in developing countries, where shipping is increasingly concentrated.The project supports the development of a low-carbon maritime sector for minimizing the adverse impacts of shipping emissions on climate change, ocean acidification and local air quality. Ten IMO Member States have already signed up to the GloMEEP project as lead pilot countries (LPCs): Argentina, China, Georgia, India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Morocco, Panama, Philippines and South Africa. The lead pilot countries will be supported in pursuing relevant legal, policy and institutional reforms, driving national and regional government action and industry innovation to support the effective implementation of IMO’s energy efficiency requirements. A number of events related to the implementation of the GloMEEP project are expected to be held alongside the two-day inaugural Future-Ready Shipping 2015 Conference. For example, the joint IMO-Singapore International Conference on Maritime ...

 Yara has a fleet of tanker vessels dedicated to transporting carbon dioxide. This fleet of three ships is now completely modernized, with Yara Gerda, named after a figure in Norse mythology, starting service this month.Yara Gerda is a new dedicated liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) marine tanker replacing an older tanker. Yara’s CO2 is used in the beverage business (carbonation), food business (chilling, freezing), air catering (cold chain assurance) and greenhouse businesses. Yara is Europe's No.1 producer and No.3 retailer of liquid CO2.“CO2 touches our lives every day,” says Petter Østbø, Yara’s Vice President Gas and Industrial Applications.“It provides us with the fizz in our beverages, the freshness of our groceries and of our meals on flights. Being a major European player in this market means that Yara adds something positive to the daily lives of millions of Europeans.”Why ships?Reliability is at the core of Yara’s value proposition as a CO2 supplier. This is a business with peaks and seasonality, especially around the summer. Customers’ processes rely on continuous, just-in-time deliveries. Some customers receive Yara CO2 several times a day. Any delivery delay has the potential to rapidly halt production at our customers who depend on our CO2.“Supply reliability is clearly ...

 Logistics is one of the most dynamic sectors of the economy, contributing to economic growth and international competitiveness. In the face of the steady growth in freight volumes throughout Europe, EU policy focuses on increasing the efficiency of freight logistics and reducing environmental impacts.As a significant area of EU transport policy, logistics has been selected for the TRIP series of policy brochures to highlight the contribution of EU-funded research to policy and the implications for future policy and research.This series of policy brochures is an essential component of the comprehensive Transport Research and Innovation Portal (TRIP) that provides open access to the results and best practices of research programmes and projects in the European Research Area (ERA). A central theme of research policy under the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Research Area has been identified to foster the free circulation of researchers, scientific knowledge, and technology.TRIP serves policy makers and research managers involved in all aspects of the transport sector. The Portal is developed and maintained by the TRIP Project Consortium and funded by the DirectorateGeneral for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.The policy brochure presents an overview of current and future ...

  The controversial EU Regulation on the monitoring, reporting and verification of Carbon Dioxide emissions from maritime transport came into force on 1 July 2015. To ensure uniform implementation of the regulation, the Commission has established two Subgroups that will look at the monitoring, verification and accreditation processes. The first meeting of the two subgroups, chaired by the European Commission and composed by experts coming from different backgrounds including industry, consultants, academia and Member States, held their inaugural meeting in Brussels on 7th and 8th July.  The MRV verification and accreditation subgroup held lively and productive discussions, with industry representatives, including the UK Chamber, raising a number of substantial issues with respect to the concept papers presented. In particular, the subgroup considered development of specific rules for the competencies of the verifiers, the assessment of the conformity of the monitoring plan and annual emission report by the verifier and methods of accreditation of verifiers. Unfortunately, it is now more evident that the verification process of the monitoring plan and annual emission reports - based on the Aviation EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) - will be a very costly task for the industry.  On the other hand, the monitoring subgroup dealt with more ...