Shipping is the cleanest form of transport in the world, when we are green
A conundrum which some ponder in shipping at present is this: which is more important, security or the environment? My bet is on the environment.
As to security, there will be some minimal law-compliant measure of security, touted principally by the US, and dealt with common-sensically by the other 95% of the world. As most self-created furores, things will die down and many of the newly-minted security professional class will find other challenges. How can this be?
The elephant in the room is money. No sovereign can afford much security theatre. One must recall that ten years ago the panicky members of Congress passed a flurry of mostly unworkable laws equal to their over-padded egos and under-padded abilities. Panic does not create good policy. Further, nailing the barn door shut after the horse is out is a delightful American tradition. But, as Winston Churchill pointed out, Americans eventually get it right – after trying all the wrong things first.
The environment? America is wrong there too. However, it is here to stay despite the politicised naysayers. The money reasons are subtle, but the tangible reasons are real, palpable and observable daily.
This gives shipping an opportunity. Indeed, it is demonstrable that ‘green’ [shipping], if systematically applied, costs less per tonne to operate than ‘brown’ or ‘black’. Let us take a case.
The simplest is stack emissions. The talent of shipping is to find the most cost-effective method to deal with any problem. There is no shortage of ideas within a few simple variables. Stacks can emit fewer harmful substances in five different but interactive ways. These are better designs of propulsion plants, better burning of fuel, better fuel, better emissions containment and better operating practices. Peripheral things such as less drag are helpful too.
New technologies are coming out almost daily with some manufacturers touting green engines or new propulsion methods. Usually when a [cost] shock comes to the fuel system, someone comes out with the Flexner rotor and, sure enough, I saw an advertisement for one some months ago. It remains to be seen of course, but the green trend is well under way and I suspect it will be stronger in the future.
Along with new designs comes better combustion. Of course this is a function of both design and fuel, but all things considered there have been some clever approaches recently on more efficient burning – squeezing out the last joule. After all, being green is about efficiency and efficiency is about money saved. There is less money to go around these days. If one can scrape together the capital investment, green is the only way to go.
The refiners are catching on and tinkering with fuel mixes to meet the environment movement. It is not hard, it just that the demand has not been there before. No fuel is absolutely clean – despite what you read in the newspapers. The ideal fuel would have all of it burned and the ideal engine would have no heat escape from the burning. We have some way to go on that one. However, we can pluck from the air particulates created by less then wholly burnt hydrocarbon and do it rather efficiently. We can also use stack gases to turbo-charge.
Despite what the engineers may think, humans are not engineer-able in their behaviours. We have enough problems with ships colliding in the night, oil in the water, bad ballast practices introducing alien species, touching bottom and bending the ship, and a host of other concerns. How are operators supposed to know how to act green? The training currently, if any, is perfunctory. The lesson plans today are moral. One is a bad person if he or she is not green.
There is a better way to train. When the lessons are systemic and functional the errors in the system attributable to humans are permanently correctable. Instead, the engineers and trainers preach and send out cute little posters showing cut fingers and pratfalls and the errors keep occurring. The real change comes from looking at each problem, finding its best solution then modifying the system the way people think – not the way others think they should think. This is a novel idea in most of maritima. It has been successful in some parts of our business, however. If we are all to be green then it must work for all of us.
The environmental movement is here to stay. We have a finite planet, a population growth rate that is likely unsustainable, a climate which is getting warmer; the third great mass extinction. Are things past the tipping point? I cannot say – but things are not getting better.
Where does that put shipping? We have an opportunity. Shipping has been the bête noir of the environmentalists for some time. The enforcers have got into the act, too, by criminalising even the trivial. If we become green – as we will by force of economics – we can jump in front of the parade and use it to advantage. We are the cleanest form of transport in the world, when we are green.
John AC Cartner
Maritime Lawyer
This article appeared in Lloyd’s List on 24 August 2011.For more information visit www.lloydslist.com
