Tag: GHG

A big challenge for the shipping industry Porta in united Kingdom can play a major role in reducing carbon emissions despite the fact that they are one of the least polluting links in the maritime supply chain.University of Hull has conducted a new study which found that port companies could be drivers of change in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the industry's supply chains.The study, presented at the Low Carbon Shipping 2011 International Conference in Glasgow last week, looked at the environmental actions taking place in UK ports and compared them with initiatives abroad. Researchers mapped the activity of 72 UK port locations and compared these Activities with those carried out by leading ports overseas.The findings revealed that carbon emissions from ports and port-related activity are small compared with emissions from ships and the haulage companies that serve them.According to the study's preliminary results, in 2008, the added emissions from five large UK ports groups represented a small percentage of those generated by the ships calling at these same ports: 174,000 tonnes from port operations and approximately 10m tonnes from international shipping.In 2007, international shipping accounted for 870m tonnes of carbon, or 2.7% of global emissions, whereas international aviation accounted ...

Aims to the reduction of GHG emissions from ships A broad church around a single purpose In recent years, discussions at IMO have resulted in the development of an Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) that has the broad and emphatic support of Governments, industry associations and organizations representing civil society interests. All are united in the same purpose: to ensure that the EEDI delivers environmental effectiveness by generating, through enhanced energyefficiency measures, significant reductions in GHG emissions from ships.Numerous stakeholders - policy-makers, shipowners, naval architects, class societies, etc. - are contributing to this endeavour, providing technical and other input to the debate. On the eve of adopting the 'first iteration' of the EEDI, this broad (but united) church of interests has developed an instrument that is eminently suited for its intended purpose.Enhancing energy efficiencyShipping is permanently engaged in efforts to optimize fuel consumption. And, while ships are universally recognized as the most fuel-efficient mode of bulk transportation, the Second IMO GHG Study, in 2009, identified a significant potential for further improvements in energy efficiency, mainly through the use of already existing technologies such as more efficient engines and propulsion systems, improved hull designs and larger ships:or, in other words, through ...

Each individual should become aware G S Jayadev, secretary of Deena Bandhu Trust has said cutting down the greenhouse gases (GHG) was essential to protect the environment and reverse the effect of global warming.In his address at the World Environment Day organised at Dr B R Ambedkar hall on Sunday, he said every individual should become aware about the global warming and its effects.Each citizen should think about the future generations and protect the Earth. The global warming is resulting in the melting of glaciers and rise in sea levels. The deforestation is also bringing down the number of protected wild animals like tigers and others. The forest should be protected to maintain the ecological balance, he said.Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Commissioner Amar Narayana called upon for stoping the use of plastics to make the environment clean. The women have a greater role in protecting the environment by way of educating the entire family, he said. He informed that though the district administration has not banned the use of plastics, but wants to curtail its use through public support.The Environment Day was jointly organised by the district administration, the Zilla Panchayat, City Municipal Council, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the forest department. ZP ...

High emissions from fossil fuels Despite 20 years of effort, greenhouse gas emissions are going up instead of down, hitting record highs as climate negotiators gather to debate a new global warming accord.The new report by the International Energy Agency showing high emissions from fossil fuels is one of several pieces of bad news facing delegates from about 180 countries heading to Bonn, Germany, for two weeks of talks beginning Monday.The tsunami-triggered nuclear disaster in March apparently has sidelined Japan's aggressive policies to combat climate change and prompted countries like Germany to hasten the decommissioning of nuclear power stations which, regardless of other drawbacks, have nearly zero carbon emissions."Japan's energy future is in limbo," says analyst Endre Tvinnereim of the consultancy firm Point Carbon. The fallout from the catastrophe has "put climate policy further down the priority list," and the short-term effect in Japan - one of the world's most carbon-efficient countries - will be more burning of fossil fuels, he said. And despite the expansion of renewable energy around the world, the Paris-based IEA's report said energy-related carbon emissions last year topped 30 gigatons, 5 percent more than the previous record in 2008.With energy investments locked into coal- and ...

The worlds drive to limit emissions and halt temperatures increases are likely to fail The bleak statistics, compiled by the International Energy Agency (IEA), will prompt fears the world's drive to limit emissions and halt temperatures increases are likely to fail.Despite a high level push by governments to limit global warming, unprecedented levels of carbon were released into the air over the past 12 months, the unpublished figures have disclosed.The IEA found a record 30.6 gigatons (Gt) of carbon dioxide gushed into the atmosphere, mainly from burning fossil fuel - a rise of 1.6Gt from the previous year.The agency has calculated that annual emission should not exceed 32Gt by 2020 if the world is to escape the most damaging effects of global warming.Experts said the figures, considered one of the most reliable measures of carbon emissions, showed that attempts to curb global warming were unlikely to succeed.Dr Fatih Birol, the IEA chief economist, said this also meant the goal of preventing temperatures rising more than 2C - considered the threshold for potentially "dangerous climate change" - was likely to be just "a nice Utopia".The disclosures come ahead of a key United Nations talks, involving officials from more than 180 governments, ...

Less than a decade to put in place measures The world now has less than a decade to put in place measures that would prevent damaging and irreversible changes to global climate, a new science-based report delivered to the Australian parliament warns.The report from a government-appointed commission of climate experts tables the latest evidence in climate science and also targets what it says is ill-informed debate that is confusing the public and holding back action.The report's authors conclude there is "strong and clear" scientific evidence of global warming and humans' role in it. The "fingerprints" of greenhouse-gas forcing are increasingly there to see, they argue.In a report entitled The Critical Decade, the report warns that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must reach their peak as soon as possible if the plus-2-degrees "guardrail" warming limit is to be met to avoid irreversible alterations in the climate that will make it "a struggle to maintain our present way of life".On the latest available science, it argues, if the generally accepted target of peaking emissions by 2020 is followed then steep reductions in emissions of 9 per cent per year will be required thereafter - something that would appear impossible unless economies were ...

Oceans have little or no life due to low levels of oxygen in the water A team of geologists from Newcastle University in the UK have discovered evidence that 'greenhouse oceans' occurred in prehistoric times, resulting in areas of ocean with little or no life due to low levels of oxygen in the water. Their research indicates that the planet could be on the brink of the same phenomenon re-occurring.Professor Martin Kennedy and Professor Thomas Wagner studied sediment samples across a 400,000 year span from the sea floor off the coast of western Africa and discovered that around 85 million years ago, there were mass extinctions of marine life due to what is they have termed 'greenhouse oceans'. High levels of carbon dioxide in the water led to insufficient oxygen to sustain life in many species of marine life.What they noted was layers of deoxygenated sediment from the Late Cretaceous period sandwiched between layers of sediment with visible evidence of life. Thomas Wagner commented on the findings:''We know that 'dead zones' are rapidly growing in size and number in seas and oceans across the globe. These are areas of water that are lacking in oxygen and are suffering from increases ...

ULYSSES project to develop environmentally friendly ultra-slow ships New tankers and bulk carriers built in 2050 could have service speeds of only 5 knots. Partners from nine European countries are working on an EU-funded project called ULYSSES to develop environmentally friendly, ultra-slow ships.The objective of ULYSSES project is to demonstrate, through a combination of ultra slow speeds and complementary technologies, that the efficiency of the world fleet can be increased to a point where the following CO2 targets are met: Before 2020, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent compared to 1990 levels, Beyond 2050, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent compared to 1990 levels.ULYSSES focuses on bulk carriers and tankers as these produce 60 percent of the CO2 from ocean-going vessels. As bulk carriers and tankers are reasonably similar in design and operation, it is felt that investigating these ships will give the best value for money in terms of potential impact of the project. Additionally, it is more technically challenging to reduce the speed of these ship types as they are relatively slow speed already and therefore it is expected that directional stability and other seakeeping issues will arise. However, the results of the project will be ...