Tag: CO2

 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 ...

  IMO, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed an agreement to allocate US$2.0 million to a two-year global maritime energy efficiency partnership project, which aims to support increased uptake and implementation of energy-efficiency measures for shipping.  The so-called GloMEEP 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. The aim is to promote a low-carbon maritime sector, in order to minimize the adverse impacts of shipping emissions on climate change, ocean acidification and local air quality. A particularly interesting aspect of the project is its expected role in catalysing an innovative public-private sector partnership within the project framework, through a new Global Industry Alliance (GIA) for maritime energy efficiency. Participation is anticipated from leading private sector companies, including classification societies, ship builders, ship owners, ship operators, marine equipment suppliers, port operators, and marine consultancy and management system providers.    IMO will execute this GEF-funded GloMEEP project in partnership with UNDP. Ten IMO Member States have signed up to the GloMEEP project as ...

  The Japan P&I Club has published an article on its website to provide a summary of the latest developments regarding the Implementation Requirements for the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of CO2 emissions from vessels (EU MRV). The new EU Regulation 2015/757 came into force on 1 July 2015. The Regulation follows the European Parliament’s Resolution of 5th February 2014, which called upon the Commission and Member States to set a binding target of reducing domestic greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40% compared with levels observed in 1990. Maritime transport has an impact on the global climate and on air quality, as a result of carbon dioxide and other emissions.  CO2 emissions from international shipping, related to the European Union alone, increased by 48% between 1990 and 2007.  However, as yet international maritime shipping remains the only means of transportation which has not been included in Community proposals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In light of the developing scientific understanding of the impact of maritime transport on the global climate, it has been decided that this should be assessed regularly and that the European Commission should consider implementing policies and measures to reduce both CO2 emissions and other kinds ...

  New report commissioned by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate says that 2015 is a year of unprecedented opportunity towards a low-carbon future Momentum is already building – technological innovation, new economic trends and political commitments are all coming together – towards a low-carbon future. But the pace of change needs to be accelerated to stimulate further and better quality growth and reduce climate risks. Several emerging trends and developments offer new opportunities to accelerate the transition to low-carbon growth and prosperity. The study highlights six: rapid innovation and declining costs of clean energy technologies; the fall in oil prices as an opportunity to advance carbon pricing and fossil fuel subsidy reform; growing international attention to infrastructure investment, particularly in the context of low interest rates; heightened awareness of climate risks in the financial sector; rising interest in low-carbon growth pathways in emerging and developing economies; and an acceleration of the decline in the carbon intensity of the global economy. Highlights 2015 is a year of unprecedented opportunity. A goal once seen as distant – to end extreme poverty, achieve broad-based prosperity and secure a safe climate, all together – is increasingly within reach. Technological innovation, new ...

  A new review analyzing three decades of research on the historic effects of melting polar ice sheets found that global sea levels have risen at least six meters, or about 20 feet, above present levels on multiple occasions over the past three million years. What is most concerning, scientists say, is that amount of melting was caused by an increase of only 1-2 degrees (Celsius) in global mean temperatures. Results of the study are being published this week in the journal Science. "Studies have shown that both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets contributed significantly to this sea level rise above modern levels," said Anders Carlson, an Oregon State University glacial geologist and paleoclimatologist, and co-author on the study. "Modern atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are today equivalent to those about three million years ago, when sea level was at least six meters higher because the ice sheets were greatly reduced. "It takes time for the warming to whittle down the ice sheets," added Carlson, who is in OSU's College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, "but it doesn't take forever. There is evidence that we are likely seeing that transformation begin to take place now." Co-author Peter Clark, an ...

  Our oceans need an immediate and substantial reduction of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. If that doesn’t happen, we could see far-reaching and largely irreversible impacts on marine ecosystems, which would especially be felt in developing countries. That’s the conclusion of a new review study published in the journal Science. In the study, the research team from the Ocean 2015 initiative assesses the latest findings on the risks that climate change poses for our oceans, and demonstrates how fundamentally marine ecosystems are likely to change if human beings continue to produce just as much greenhouse gases as before. Since the pre-industrial era, the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has risen from 278 to 400 ppm (parts per million) – a 40 percent increase that has produced massive changes in the oceans. “To date, the oceans have essentially been the planet’s refrigerator and carbon dioxide storage locker. For instance, since the 1970s they’ve absorbed roughly 93 percent of the additional heat produced by the greenhouse effect, greatly helping to slow the warming of our planet,” explains Prof Hans-Otto Pörtner, co-author of the new Ocean 2015 study and a researcher at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Helmholtz Centre for Polar and ...

  The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) issued a Marine Notice to provide information to ship owners and operators on technical and operational measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships. Amendments to Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) introducing the mandatory global greenhouse gas reduction regime for the international industry sector were adopted at the 62nd session of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in 2011 and entered into force on 1 January 2013. A new Chapter 4 entitled Regulations on Energy Efficiency for Ships has been added to MARPOL Annex VI which mandates: an Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for certain new ships; a Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) for certain ships; and a requirement for certain ships to carry an International Energy Efficiency (IEE) Certificate. The new chapter 4 applies to ships of 400 gross tonnage and above engaged in international voyages, however does not apply to some ships not propelled by mechanical means, and platforms including FPSOs and FSUs and drilling rigs, regardless of their propulsion. Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for new ships The EEDI is a non-prescriptive, performance-based mechanism that leaves the ...

Parker Procal, part of the Parker Hannifin Corporation and the supplier of Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS) for marine applications, has announced that its Procal 2000 emissions analyser has been certified by DNV-GL having met the requirements of MEPC 184(59) Chapter 6 on emission testing of CO2 and SO2, as well as the requirements of the revised MARPOL Annex VI and NOx Technical Code 2008. The certification of the analyser aids ship owners in providing robust evidence to demonstrate compliance with ECA regulations. The Procal 2000 is an in-situ analyser which analyses the gases from the combustion of residual and distillate fuel. It also measures the water content of the exhaust so that CO2 and SO2 can be reported on both a wet and a dry basis, demonstrating compliance with ECA regulations in port and in international waters. To achieve certification, the Procal 2000 analyser was rigorously tested to prove the effective measurement of emissions required to determine compliance with the updated MEPC 184(59) Chapter 6 and Marpol Annex IV and NOx Technical Code 2008 regulations. Changes to these regulations include updates on the measurement of CO2 and SO2, the testing of NOx emissions in gas and dual-fuel engines, calculation ...

  International shipping has to half its emissions says a new report by the Tyndall Centre at the University of Manchester. Cutting the shipping sector’s CO2 emissions in line with global climate change targets will need an approach that goes beyond current regulations, according to a new report by researchers from the Shipping in Changing Climates Consortium at UCL and the Tyndall Centre, University of Manchester. The new research presented to the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) illustrates the wide gap between what is needed to avoid 1.5/2°C of warming, compared with the current direction of travel of shipping CO2. The analysis shows how avoiding 1.5/2°C, whilst maintaining shipping’s present 2-3% share of total anthropogenic CO2, requires at least a halving of its CO2 emissions by 2050. This is the first time that the scale of the challenge has been presented directly at the IMO and articulated in terms of trajectories for individual ship types. The paper coincides with the submission to the IMO of a paper by the Republic of Marshall Islands calling for MEPC to agree a quantifiable and ambitious GHG emissions reduction goal for international shipping. Constraining CO2 budgets in line ...