Tag: GHG

ICS welcomed the significant progress made by IMO's MEPC 73 on some key environmental issues, such as the GHG reduction from ships and the 2020 sulphur cap. ICS Chairman, Esben Poulsson, expressed satisfaction that IMO Member States have not sought to reopen the historic agreement or the CO2 reduction targets previously agreed, and praised China's proposals for organising future work.

The IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee held its 73rd session from October 22 to 26, 2018 and focused on a number of areas to improve shipping's environmental footprint. The topics of the discussions include ban of non-compliant fuel carriage and further discussions of reducing shipping's GHG emissions.

IMO published the first guide of the 'Ship Emissions Toolkit', which provide a framework along with decision support tools for evaluating emissions reduction opportunities in maritime transport. It also offers guidance to countries seeking to develop national policy regarding the prevention of air pollution and the reduction of GHG emissions from ships.

The first guide of 'The Port Emissions Toolkit': Assessment of port emissions, incorporates the latest emission inventory methods and approaches. It recognizes that ships do not operate independently from shore-based entities in the maritime transportation system, and that port emission considerations must extend beyond the ships themselves.

The US Environmental Protection Agency released its 2017 GHG data collected under the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program. US EPA indicated an overall reduction across sectors and that total US greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 2.7% from 2016 to 2017.

A world wide attempt to use the right energy efficiency policies could lead greenhouse gas emissions to peak quickly and then decrease. This could happen even as the global economy doubles between now and 2040, IEA’s Energy Efficiency 2018 report. The study shows that right efficiency policies could deliver a 40% reduction of emissions.

Finland is trying to reduce GHG emissions from shipping and establish measures for reducing these emissions from next year. Actions will include improving energy efficiency of ships, research and development activities and the introduction of alternative fuels.

IMO's MEPC 73 will take place on 22-26 October 2018, at IMO Headquarters in London, focusing on key environmental challenges facing the shipping industry. Among the key topics on the agenda are the hot issues of the GHG reduction from ships and 2020 sulphur cap. 

As part of its efforts to minimize the environmental impact of its products, Finnish technology group Wärtsilä said it has set a target to cut GHG emissions from its gas engines by a massive 15% between 2015 and 2020. The first step towards reducing all emissions is to switch from diesel to gas, says Sebastiaan Bleuanus.

During its latest Annual Summit in Hong Kong on 3-4 October 2018, the Global Maritime Forum presented its Global Maritime Issues Monitor 2018 report, in which maritime leaders ranked ‘energy efficiency’ and ‘choice of emissions reduction strategies’ as most likely to influence the sector in the next 10 years.