Tag: CO2

CO2, emissions, NYK, sustainability

ocean, atmosphere, emissions, CO@

Commitment to environmental protection Hamburg Süd is pressing ahead vigorously with its commitment to environmental protection. The shipping group thus decided recently to set itself an objectively measurable environmental target: by 2020 Hamburg Süd is aiming to reduce the CO2e emissions of its owned and chartered container vessels per unit of transport capacity (TEUkm) by 26 per cent.Besides carbon dioxide, the unit of measurement CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) takes account of other climate gases (e.g., methane) produced in the combustion process in line with their effect on the climate."We have always felt committed to the protection of the environment and have launched numerous voluntary initiatives and projects in the past to mitigate environmental impact," said Dr Ottmar Gast, Chairman of the Executive Board of Hamburg Süd. "With the self-imposed cut in CO2e emissions we now intend to go a step further and make our environmental commitment clear for all to follow. At the same time, we are confident that the measurable results will enable us to identify further optimization potential in the future."Hamburg Süd aims to reach this target by taking a variety of measures, such as investing in the energy efficiency of owned ships, increasing average vessel size, chartering ...

Shipping produces between 40 and 100 times less CO2 than other industries On Saturday 16 June, at a high level 'Oceans Day' event during the United Nations 'Rio+20' Summit on Sustainable Development, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) presented the views of the world's merchant shipowners on delivering green growth.On behalf of ICS, the principal international trade association for shipowners, representing over 80% of the world merchant fleet, ICS Regulatory Affairs Director, David Tongue, told Rio + 20 delegates: "Shipping carries about 90% of world trade but is already by far the greenest form of commercial transport producing between 40 and 100 times less CO2, per tonne of cargo moved one kilometre than cargo aviation and significantly less than trains and trucks. Shipping is the only industrial sector already to be covered by a binding international agreement for the further reduction of CO2 emissions, which will deliver a 20% improvement in energy efficiency by 2020."He added: "Other international sectors concerned with the Oceans could learn a great deal from the way in which the UN International Maritime Organization successfully regulates shipping."ICS used the UN Summit to explain that without the low cost of transport provided by modern shipping, the movement ...

Efficiency issues have become business critical, says Leonardo Sonzio of Wartsila Although there is no overall conflict between CO2 reductions and financial results as efficiency issues "become business critical", Leonardo Sonzio of Wärtsilä says that for some, regulations "will be a matter of life and death".Talking at a Wärtsilä online webinar, he pointed out that these regulations are taking place at a time of volatile markets."Certain rules are causing an additional cost for the shipping industry and for some companies, these will be a question of lifeor death - meaning survival or a risk of bankruptcy." He added, "It is the role of the regulators is to balance financial targets with environmental targets and think about any incentives or financial aid that can be allocated."He added the role of the technology providers is to work with customers to deliver solutions with the minimum impact on costs, both investment and also operational costs. Further, the technology has to be easy to operate and install, without creating "additional headaches".Further, his colleague Tom Nyman pointed out that the industry is "a little bit behind schedule" on ballast water treatment. Of70,000 ships at present, he said 40,000 would have to be equipped with ballast ...

World Ports & Trade Summit in Abu Dhabi The second World Ports & Trade Summit in Abu Dhabi concluded on Wednesday April 4, highlighting the need to tackle accelerated growth requirements of the industry keeping in mind mounting concerns relating to sustainability.The participants at the Summit were in consensus about achieving a s trategic vision for the long-term development of the industry being clearly aware of the effects of climate change and energy requirements."While the Summit was a celebration of potential for growth, it is important to look at where such growth would take us," said Jonathon Porrit, Founder of Forum for the Future and initiator of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI).Explaining the implications of growth, Porrit pointed out that by 2050, if the emission level standards agreed upon by world leaders are to be achieved, the industry faces the challenge of reducing CO2 produced to 6 gm for each dollar value created in global economy from the current of 768 gm, which is rather unrealistic if prevailing levels of compliance are taken into account. "In such a scenario, the emphasis on low carbon technology is going to be dramatic," he said.Considering such critical sustainability challenges ahead, the summit explored ...

World' s first hybrid system for ship A true hybrid energy system is currently being developed for installation on board the offshore supply vessel Viking Lady. An impressive battery pack for energy storage will soon be installed. When the new system is complete, the operation of the engine will be more smooth and cost effective giving further emission reductions.The Viking Lady is not like any other offshore supply ship. The three-year-old LNG-fuelled vessel, which is owned by Eidesvik Offshore, was the very first merchant ship to use a fuel cell as part of its propulsion system. The fuel cell, which generates an electric output of 330 kW, was installed in the autumn of 2009 and has successfully run for more than 18,500 hours. Based on this, the Viking Lady is already one of the world's most environmentally friendly ships. Now another first step is to be taken to reduce its emissions even more. Once the battery pack is in place, the ship will operate using a hybrid system similar to that which has been installed in hybrid cars for a number of years. However, the potential emission reductions are higher and the return on investment period is shorter for ships ...

Aiming to Reduce CO2 Emissions during ship operations NYK has decided to introduce an onboard broadband communication system on all its containerships with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions during ship operations.Onboard tests of the broadband communication system started in October 2010 on various types of vessels, and the results have been studied. When the system is introduced as part of the IBIS (innovative bunker and idle-time saving) project that NYK has implemented on its containerships to achieve optimal economic ship operation, real-time large-volume data communication between land and ships can be achieved. The results of the tests showed that the large volume of assorted data required for reducing CO2 emissions can be obtained in real time.The new system enables the acquisition of more specific weather and sea-current forecast information on board, improves the automatic transmission of ship operation data and ship operation monitoring on land, and speeds up information-sharing and communication between staff on land and on board vessels. In response to these test results, NYK has decided to move from a testing phase to actual, sequential installation of the system on all its containerships to promote the IBIS project, and is to introduce the system onto car carriers, ...

MBM to curb shipping emissions The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is making little headway on market-based measures to curb carbon dioxide emissions from international shipping, putting it on a policy collision course with the European Union, observers said.A committee of the 170-member United Nations shipping body was unable to make "tangible progress" after a week of talks that ended late on Friday, a delegate told Reuters.An IMO spokeswoman said discussions on market-based measures, such as a levy on CO2 emissions and a cap-and-trade scheme, will resume in October when the Marine Environment Protection Committee meets again.International shipping accounts for around 3 percent of the world's emissions of the greenhouse gas that is widely blamed for global warming, and this share could go to 18 percent by 2050 if regulation is not in place, according to the IMO.The European Union executive of the 27-nation European Union bloc has threatened to enforce its own shipping regulations if the IMO fails to act, as it has with aviation."While we have a clear preference for global action on measures to reduce emissions from shipping, we don't see the IMO on track to deliver reductions consistent with the globally accepted maximum two degrees Celsius objective," ...

Industrial emissions are causing the fastest oceans acidification High levels of pollution may be turning the planet's oceans acidic at a faster rate than at any time in the past 300 million years, with unknown consequences for future sea life, researchers said Thursday.The acidification may be worse than during four major mass extinctions in history when natural pulses of carbon from asteroid impacts and volcanic eruptions caused global temperatures to soar, said the study in the journal Science.An international team of researchers from the United States, Britain, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands examined hundreds of paleoceanographic studies, including fossils wedged in seafloor sediment from millions of years ago.They found only one time in history that came close to what scientists are seeing today in terms of ocean life die-off -- a mysterious period known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum about 56 million years ago.Though the reason for the carbon upsurge back then remains a source of debate, scientists believe that the doubling of harmful emissions drove up global temperatures by about six degrees Celsius and caused big losses of ocean life.Oceans are particularly vulnerable because they soak up excess carbon dioxide from the air which turns the waters more acidic, ...