Tag: GHG

IMO's initial strategy on GHG reduction from ships stipulates that the industry should assess the impacts on states prior to adoption of mitigation measures. Introducing such measures, such as carbon prices applied to bunker fuels in the range of 10 to 50 USD/ton of CO2, might increase maritime transport costs by 0.4% - 16%, according to a new report by the World Bank.

Sinopec’s Shanghai refinery produced its first set of low-sulphur bunker fuel, amounting a total of 6,000 tonnes. The Shanghai refinery now became the first in China to produce low sulphur fuel oil, in order to comply with upcoming IMO rules. MEPC 72 adopted an initial strategy, which envisages, for the first time, a reduction in total GHG emissions from shipping which should peak as soon as possible and to reduce the total annual GHG emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008.

It is estimated that the oceans are warming faster in comparison to the past, setting a new record on temperature in 2018, resulting to damaging marine life. Measurements, run by an international network of 3.900 floats that are deployed in the oceans since 2000, revealed an increased warming since 1971, than what it was calculated by the UN assessment of climate change in 2013. 

Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has completed a shore power project to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollution by enabling ships to shut down their diesel engines and connect to an electrical grid supplied by renewable energy sources. The system was successfully commissioned and connected to the first ship in October.

There have been critical debates on potential solutions for reducing CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions in all sectors. As part of the Paris Agreement, adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015, long-term goals have been set by several countries around the globe to limit the increase in global average temperature in an effort to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The new research forum 'Blue Carbon Forum', powered by the Scottish Government in partnership with Scottish universities will measure the ability of Scotland’s marine environment to store carbon dioxide and mitigate against the effects of climate change. It aims to identify and map blue carbon resource in Scottish waters over 2018-19.

According to a study conducted by Princeton and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, each year during the past quarter century, the world’s oceans have absorbed an amount of heat energy that is 150 times the energy humans produce as electricity annually. Researchers suggest that the strong ocean warning is caused because Earth is more sensitive to fossil-fuel emissions than previously thought.

The Global Maritime Forum supports the IMO's vision to reduce GHG emissions in the future and calls to action CEOs and maritime industry leaders in favour of decarbonization. 

IMO is at the UN climate change conference (COP 24) in Poland, focusing on key elements of the Initial IMO Strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships. Discussions at several side events at COP 24 have highlighted prospects for alternative and low-carbon fuels.

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä launched a lifeboat for buildings, as a product 'that should never see the light of day', in a bid to highlight the potential adverse effects of climate change in the world. The lifeboat for buildings is not a real product, even though it could be, as it could be used in severe flooding and rising sea levels caused by climate change.