Tag: GHG

High levels of the gas in the atmosphere could speed up climate change Scientists are worried about methane bubbling to the surface of the Arctic Ocean. The thawing of the Arctic as temperatures rise is releasing methane in the seabed. Scientists say high levels of the gas in the atmosphere could speed up climate change.According to the The New York Times, scientists have recently been investigating areas of increasingly ice-free shallows off Russia's Siberian coast that are producing millions of tons of methane gas ever year. The concern over the observation is that methane has at least 20 times the heat-trapping properties of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.Daily Mail reports that methane concentrations in the Arctic averages about 1.85 parts per million, the highest in 400,000 years, and concentrations in the East Siberian Arctic Shelf are even higher. In deep water methane gas oxidizes into carbon dioxide, but in shallow waters of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, methane does not have enough time to oxidize, so it escapes into the air contributing to greenhouse gas concentration. Increased methane production from thawing sea-bed stores of the gas could accelerate global warming.Scientists want to find out whether this is the onset of ...

Outcome of the Durban Climate Change Conference and what it means for IMO The United Nations Climate Change Conference has concluded its seventeenth session (COP 17/CMP 7) in Durban, South Africa, meeting from 28 November to the early hours of11 December 2011.As anticipated, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), serving also as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, focused more on rallying political will for action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (in particular, the issue of the second commitment period for emission reductions under the Kyoto Protocol and the establishment and making operational of the Green Climate Fund, as decided under the Cancún Agreements of 2010), rather than on pushing ahead with the preparation and adoption of a legally binding instrument to that effect.As far as sectoral approaches are concerned, including international maritime transportation, the Conference noted the progress made by IMO in adopting, in July 2011, regulations on energy efficiency for ships under MARPOL Annex VI, as part of its three-pillar work plan to limit or reduce the emission of greenhouse gases from international shipping, as well as the Organization's continuing work on market-based measures.Although the question ...

Up to seven ships can be supplied with reliable shore-side electricity to reduce emissions ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, has won an order from Ystad Hamn, the port authority of the city of Ystad in southern Sweden, to build the complete electrical onshore infrastructure to simultaneously power multiple vessels while berthed.The shore-to-ship power solutions enable vessels docked in the port to draw all the electricity needed for operating their onboard systems, including ventilation and cooling, from the local power network. The use of shore-side power allows ships to shut off their diesel engines while docked in port. This results in reductions in greenhouse gas and noise emissions as well as vibrations, improving environmental conditions for people in and around the port. It also allows an opportunity window for maintenance work on the engines.ABB pioneered the shore connection technology using frequency converters to adapt the shore-side power frequency of 50 Hz (hertz) to the 60 Hz system frequency as is the case with most vessels. The new installation will comprise five berths and offer flexibility to simultaneously supply power to vessels with 50 Hz and 60 Hz system frequencies. With a rating of 6.25 MVA (mega-volt-ampere) for 60 ...

The topics focused on greenhouse gas emissions, ship recycling and other maritime issues The Tripartite Meeting among Shipbuilders, Shipowners and Classification Societies (abbreviated as Tripartite Meeting) was convened at CCS Headquarters in Beijing on November 18, 2011. The meeting, co-sponsored by China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI), Chinese Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (CSNAME) and China Shipowners' Association (CSA), and organized by China Classification Society (CCS), was attended by over 120 delegates from major international shipping organizations, the shipbuilding associations from China, Japan and Korea, International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), and so on, including such distinguished guests as ICS Chairman Polemis Spyros, INTERNTANKO Chairman Graham Westgarth, BIMCO Marine Committee Chairman Phillip Embiricos, IACS Chairman Pavel Shikhov and CESS Chairman Iwamoto.The topics on the agenda included the latest IMO requirements, harmonization of IACS Common Structural Rules, greenhouse gas emission, ship recycling, ballast water treatment, piracy, as well as other international maritime issues of common concern in the shipbuilding, shipbuilding and class sectors.Since 2002, the Tripartite Meeting, coordinated by INTERTANKO, has been held in Asia annually, attended by delegates from INTERTANKO, INTERCARGO, ICS, BIMCO, the shipbuilding associations from China, Japan and Korea, IACS, etc. The meeting location ...

Ways to cut global carbon emissions and pollution Thousands of representatives from governments, international organizations and civil society gathered yesterday in Durban, South Africa for the start of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which seeks to advance ways to cut global carbon emissions and pollution.The stakes at the two-week long conference are high, as its outcome will determine the future of the Kyoto Protocol, the legally binding treaty to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, whose first commitment period is due to expire in 2012.UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity Virginia Dandan said in a statement issued today that the Durban conference represents a "make or break moment for humanity," and warned that failure to act would greatly damage future environmental negotiations."The world is calling for genuine international solidarity and multilateralism, and for its leaders to take a leap of faith in unison, and as one," Ms. Dandan said. "There is great need for a radical mindset change in order to bring back to the negotiating table the time-honoured values of humanity that have been forgotten after decades of market and profit-driven orientation."Ms. Dandan stressed that decisive action and work in solidarity are needed to achieve concrete ...

Countries commit to reduce emissions The U.N.'s top climate official said she expects governments to make a long-delayed decision on whether industrial countries should make further commitments to reduce emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases.Amid fresh warnings of climate-related disasters in the future, delegates from about 190 countries were gathering in Durban for a two-week conference beginning Monday. They hope to break deadlocks on how to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants.Christiana Figueres, head of the U.N. climate secretariat, said Sunday the stakes for the negotiations are high, underscored by new scientific studies.Under discussion was "nothing short of the most compelling energy, industrial, behavioral revolution that humanity has ever seen," she said.Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a hero of the movement that ended apartheid in South Africa, led a rally at a rugby stadium later Sunday urging negotiators to be more ambitious during what were expected to be difficult talks. Unseasonably cold, windy weather kept the crowd to a few hundred spectators.Tutu, dressed in ecumenical purple robes, he said the struggle to end the racist regime in his homeland is now followed by a fight against "another huge enemy, and no country can fight this particular enemy on its own."He chided ...

Between 2008 and 2009,shipping emissions fell by 10 percent Transport pollution fell for a second year in 2009 in European countries as recession cut demand, clearing the way for a social shift from the assumption car ownership is almost a necessity, the head of the European Environment Agency said.Published on Thursday, the latest report from the EEA, an arm of the European Union, found emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants from transport had fallen.Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the EEA, which covers EU countries and some neighboring states, said the two years of decline had the potential to mark a permanent change after more than a decade of rising transport emissions."Now we need to see a more fundamental shift in Europe's transport system so that emissions do not increase even in times of strong growth," she said.In this sense, the deep economic crisis in Europe could be an opportunity."I'm not saying it's going to be a Nirvana, but we can begin to see the sector's transformation," she told Reuters in an interview."That car ownership is not a necessity is what Europe has to face," she said. "As people become less financially secure, car sharing might be a good option."The ...

Increasing amounts of long-lived greenhouse gase NOAA's updated Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI), which measures the direct climate influence of many greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, shows a continued steady upward trend that began with the Industrial Revolution of the 1880s.Started in 2004, the AGGI reached 1.29 in 2010. That means the combined heating effect of long-lived greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere by human activities has increased by 29 percent since 1990, the "index" year used as a baseline for comparison. This is slightly higher than the 2009 AGGI, which was 1.27, when the combined heating effect of those additional greenhouse gases was 27 percent higher than in 1990."The increasing amounts of long-lived greenhouse gases in our atmosphere indicate that climate change is an issue society will be dealing with for a long time," said Jim Butler, director of the Global Monitoring Division of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. "Climate warming has the potential to affect most aspects of society, including water supplies, agriculture, ecosystems and economies. NOAA will continue to monitor these gases into the future to further understand the impacts on our planet."The AGGI is analogous to the dial on an ...

Validation and verification of GHG projects RINA issues New Guidelines regarding Validation and Verification of Greenhouse Gas Assertions as follows:These Guidelines define the procedures applied by RINA to validate and verify assertions related to greenhouse gases (GHG), as for example:* validation and verification of GHG projects;* verification of GHG inventories and of initiatives aimed at improving GHG management.Validation and verification of GHG assertions are performed according to the validation and verification criteria/requirements of an agreedsystem/scheme, these Guidelines and any additional elements indicated by the supervisory body of the system/scheme or by the accreditationbody.For every scheme relative to a GHG assertion, RINA can publish specific rules integrating the requirements of these Guidelines.For more information, click hereSource: RINA

UK is committed to cutting all its climate-changing emissions by 80%by 2050 Greenhouse gas emissions from shipping should be included in the UK's climate change budgets, the Committee on Climate Change has recommended.Under the Climate Change Act, the UK is committed to cutting all its climate-changing emissions by 80% - based on 1990 levels - by 2050.But international aviation and shipping emissions are not currently included.If the government agrees, it will mean tighter targets for other sectors such as motoring and electricity generation."Shipping could account for up to 10% of emissions allowed under the 2050 target, and that says this is a material issue," said Committee on Climate Change (CCC) chief executive David Kennedy.The CCC's report says there are many ways for shipping to curb its carbon footprint - by improving fuel efficiency, deploying kites or sails, or allocating vessels more efficiently.Some companies are already developing such techniques.Tight budgets The CCC has recommended - and the government has adopted - a series of carbon budgets setting down the maximum scale of greenhouse gas emissions that the UK can emit over successive five-year periods.They are designed as staging posts on the way to the 2050 target.If the government does agree to ...