Higher fuel bills will cut ship emissions

Higher bunker fuel bills will act as a driver to cut ship emissions, as efficiency gains when bunker prices are high result in substantial cost savings for shipowners. The greater the gains in efficiency, the lower a ship’s fuel consumption, and the lower its emissions.

New global regulations on fuel sulphur content will push increased consumption of low-sulphur distillate fuels. Sulphur emission control areas (SOx-ECAs) are already in place in northern Europe (the Baltic Sea and the North Sea) and will soon be so in North America (up to 200 nautical miles from the coast). SOx-ECA requires fuel below 1.00% sulphur from July 2010 (in North America from August 2012) and below 0.10% from January 2015. The global fuel sulphur limit is currently 4.50%, to be lowered to 3.50% from 2012 and further to 0.50% as from 2020.

The 0.10% sulphur limit can only be attained by switching to cleaner distillate fuel, such as marine gas oil. In the first quarter of 2010 the price for marine gas oil was about US$600/tonne – about US$200 more expensive than heavy bunker fuel oil. But as oil prices have crept higher, early April saw distillate prices rise to over US$700/tonne.

For shipping, improving efficiency and reducing fuel consumption is therefore a win-win situation, resulting in less emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases as well as lower fuel bills.

Source: Sustainable Shipping News, 19 April 2010

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Main menu

Higher fuel bills will cut ship emissions

In this issue

Too much NOx from trucks

40 per cent carbon cuts with smaller scale tech

Go slower to go greener

EU Parliament votes for stronger pollution directive

A WWF prescription for greening Germany

North American ship pollution will be curbed

British power plants pollute Dutch rural areas

NOx sources in the UK: the story behind the figures

The poor legacy of Copenhagen

Ozone, plants and climate - views and news

Roadmap for 2050 offers low-carbon Europe for free

And the winner is...

Particles killing half a million

Editorial: Shipping must pay its bill

Publications

Food for Thought

Northern forests, climate change and the UNFCCC

EU climate targets aligned with the Paris agreement’s 1.5°C objective

Baltic Sea Offshore Wind Collaborative-Learning project

Air pollution in Europe and children’s health

Climate Change: A Himalayan Odessey

No further discussion needed. The agreed global goal is to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C

Fossil-free electricity 2021

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