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US EPA issues FAQs on vessel discharges under VGP

The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) second Vessel General Permit (VGP or Permit) for discharges incidental to the normal operation of vessels took effect on 19 December 2013. The second Vessel General Permit was finalized on March 28, 2013 and  replace the 2008 VGP when it expired last December The US EPA has recenlty developed by staff within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Office of Wastewater Management frequently asked questions (FAQs) to address issues commonly raised to EPA regarding the VGP. What changes are in the 2013 VGP? For the first time, the 2013 VGP contains numeric ballast water discharge limits for most vessels. The 2013 VGP also contains more stringent effluent limits for oil to sea interfaces and exhaust gas scrubber washwater, which will improve environmental protection of U.S. waters. EPA has also improved the efficiency of several of the VGP's administrative requirements, including allowing electronic recordkeeping, requiring an annual report in lieu of the one-time report and annual noncompliance report, and requiring small vessel owners and/or operators to obtain coverage under the VGP by completing and agreeing to the terms of a Permit Authorization and Record of Inspection form.   FAQs on 2013 VGP do not substitute for provisions ...

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Sustainable wood waste biofuel could cut greenhouse gas emissions

A sustainable biofuel made from Norwegian forest wood waste could help transform the shipping industry and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions Alternative sustainable fuels are urgently needed in the marine transport sector due to stringent upcoming regulations demanding reduced sulphur and carbon content in diesels and oils from January 2015. Aston University scientists are involved in the ReShip project, which will use low quality wood waste, chippings and unmerchantable wood left in forests after logging has occurred to produce new biofuels. Via the process of fast pyrolysis, where material is heated in the absence of oxygen, the wood will be converted into crude pyrolysis oil. Compared to petroleum-based oil, however, crude pyrolysis oil cannot be used for direct use in diesel engines as it is too unstable. To counter this, the Aston team, led by Professor Tony Bridgwater, will look to stabilise freshly produced pyrolysis biofuel through mild, rapid, low temperature catalytic hydrogen treatment. In cooperation with the Paper and Fibre Research Institute in Norway they will also seek to blend the bio-oil with conventional diesel and surfactant to form a multi-component fuel. The most promising fuels will then be engine tested to assess their quality and use for potential marine transport. Professor ...

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GAO issues report re US Arctic Council voluntary recommendations

GAO has issued a report on better direction and management of voluntary recommendations and how this could enhance U.S. Arctic Council participation. The Arctic Council (Council) is a voluntary intergovernmental forum for Arctic States, with involvement of indigenous organizations and other stakeholders, to address various environmental and economic issues through projects and reports targeting a variety of subjects. The eight Arctic States guide the work of the Council through consensus decisions and rotate the chairmanship of the Council every 2 years. The United States will assume the chairmanship in 2015. The participants meet in six working groups, four task forces, and various expert groups to produce such documents as scientific assessments and guidance. For example, the Council has produced assessments of Arctic climate change impacts and shipping. As Arctic issues have emerged, the Council has expanded and broadened its work to address them. For example, since the Council's was established in 1996, the number of ongoing projects has increased from about 30 to 80. Six key federal agencies hold leadership roles in the Arctic Council and other agencies participate through the Council's working groups and task forces. The U.S. Department of State (State) leads this participation and collaborates with the ...

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Radar surveys reveal that West Antarctic Ice Sheets collapse is underway

National Science Foundation- (NSF) funded researchers at the University of Washington have concluded that Antarctica's fast-moving Thwaites Glacier will likely disappear in a matter of centuries, potentially raising sea level by more than a half-a-meter (two feet). Please click on the image for a larger view (Image Credit: David Shean / University of Washington) Data gathered by NSF-funded airborne radar, detailed topography maps and computer modeling were used to make the determination. The glacier acts as an ice dam, stabilizing and regulating movement toward the sea of the massive West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The ice sheet contains enough ice to cause another 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) of global sea level rise. "There's been a lot of speculation about the stability of marine ice sheets, and many scientists suspected that this kind of behavior is under way," said Ian Joughin, a glaciologist at the university's Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the first author on the paper. " This study provides a more quantitative idea of the rates at which the collapse could take place." The paper's co-authors are Benjamin Smith, a physicist at APL, and Brooke Medley, a former University of Washington doctoral student, now at NASA's ...

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Arctic Council Task Force meets in Helsinki

The Arctic Council's Task Force for Enhancing Scientific Cooperation in the Arctic (SCTF) held its second meeting in Helsinki on April 8-9, 2014 at the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. During the meeting, delegations exchanged views on proposals related to advancing scientific cooperation in the Arctic, and decided that the task force would begin work on negotiating an MOU or other instrument at its next meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland. In the Arctic Council's Kiruna Declaration, signed in May 2013, Ministers from the eight Arctic Council states agreed that cooperation in scientific research across the Arctic is of great importance to the work of the Arctic Council, and established a Task Force to work towards an arrangement on improved scientific research cooperation among the eight Arctic States. The Science Cooperation Task Force (SCTF) held its second meeting in Helsinki on April 8-9, 2014 at the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. During the same week, Helsinki hosted Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) which offered many delegates of the task force an opportunity to take part in other events related to Arctic research alongside the task force meeting. During the meeting, delegations exchanged views on proposals related to advancing scientific cooperation ...

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K Line to invest in flag ship for Drive Green Project

The concept picture of "DRIVE GREEN PROJECT". Click on image for larger view Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. ("K" Line) announced it has just launched "DRIVE GREEN PROJECT" in order to pursue environmental protection and energy savings with the world's most advanced technologies to be integrated on the 7,500-unit Car Carrier on order with Japan Marine United Corporation as Flag Ship of this project that includes constructing total of 8 new similarly-designed PCC's announced in press releases in late 2013 and earlier this year. Ships have the lowest environmental impact of all transportation modes compared with aircraft, railway and motor vehicles. On the other hand, exhaust gas from marine diesel engines include factors that cause photochemical smog and acid rain, such as sulfur oxide (SOx) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), in addition to carbon dioxide (CO2) that are causes of global warming. In "K" Line "DRIVE GREEN PROJECT", to reduce CO2 emissions per transport vehicle, advanced hull design and energy saving technology have been adopted, with the goal of reducing CO2 emissions 25% or more compared to conventional design. Its NOx reduction method, the world's first NOx generation suppression device to be installed on a main engine, reduces both CO2 and NOx ...

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Isle of Man Government exploring Offshore energy opportunities

The Isle of Man Government has taken a further step towards exploring the opportunities for generation of offshore wind and tidal energy and is now inviting expressions of interest from parties seeking to develop offshore energy production in Isle of Man territorial seas. Minister for Economic Development John Shimmin commented: ‘The opportunities for the Isle of Man in renewable energy are significant. For example, we estimate that leasing parts of the seabed within our waters to an offshore wind farm developer would generate several millions of pounds of income per year for the Isle of Man Government. ‘The potential return to the Isle of Man from large offshore wind farms could be worth £5M per year from leasing the seabed in our territorial sea. ‘All the infrastructure costs involved in building and installing the wind farms would be borne by the developer, not the Isle of Man Government. ‘The Government Departments leading on this project being my Department, the Department of Infrastructure (DOI), the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) and Treasury, has brought in expertise from Source Low Carbon LLP to assist with the process for tendering for future offshore wind farms and tidal energy schemes in our ...

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