Shipping would profit by cutting CO2 emissions

January 2012

Greenhouse gas emissions from the global shipping industry could be cut by at least one fifth without any cost or even at a profit.

Shipping activity could double or even triple by 2050 under business-as-usual scenarios according to a new report from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Consequently, greenhouse gas emissions from ships could increase by up to 250 per cent by 2050 if no further action is taken in this area.
   New emission data for 2007 shows that shipping emitted 1,046 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), corresponding to 3.3 per cent of global emissions. By comparison, international aviation’s share was 1.9 per cent. Of the total emissions from shipping, 870 million tonnes came from international shipping while the remaining 176 million tonnes came from domestic shipping and fishing vessels.
   However the report also reveals the major potential that exists for shipping to cut its emissions through new technologies and practices. Many of these measures would actually save the industry money because of the fuel savings incurred.
   Together, if implemented, these measures could increase efficiency and reduce the emissions rate by 25–75 per cent below the current levels, according to the report.

A whole range of measures, including towing kites, speed reductions, and upgrades to hulls, engines and propellers, were considered by the report’s authors. They also found that economic instruments, such as emissions trading or a bunker fuel levy, are efficient and cost-effective policies to tackle shipping emissions
  “The shipping industry, currently responsible for more greenhouse emissions than the UK or Canada, now has no excuses for remaining outside international emissions reductions frameworks,” said Peter Lockley, head of transport policy at WWF UK.

The IMO has been under pressure from the European Union and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) to come forward with concrete proposals to reduce the sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. The issue will be discussed further at an IMO meeting in July, which is expected to finalise the IMO’s position ahead of the UN FCCC conference in Copenhagen in December.
  “It is vital that shipping emissions come within an overall cap under the post-2012 climate regime, as they are projected to rise even if gains in efficiency are taken into consideration,” Lockley said.

Should the Copenhagen agreement fail to include global maritime emissions and if no international reduction targets are agreed through the IMO, the EU plans to include the sector in its emission trading scheme.

Christer Ågren

Second IMO GHG Study 2009. Document MEPC 59/INF.10. International Maritime Organisation, www.imo.org. See also press release from WWF UK at www.wwf.org.uk.

Reduced pollution from petrol stations

New legislation will require service stations in the EU to be equipped with petrol vapour recovery, resulting in improved protection of the environment and public health.

EU states postpone air quality compliance

Nineteen member states have so far notified the Commission that they will need time extensions to comply with EU air quality standards.

Top of the dirty thirty list

Having spewn out 31 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2008, the Polish Belchatow plant is listed as EU’s most polluting power station in terms of its greenhouse gas emissions. The German Niederaussem power plant was the second dirtiest and emitted nearly 25 million tonnes.

A push for cleaner industry

The new Industrial Emissions directive received its first reading in the European Parliament in March, and the Council position is expected at the end of June.

Transport emissions still on the increase

Greenhouse gas emissions from the European transport sector rose 26 per cent between 1990 and 2006, while all other sectors show a declining trend.

Particles cost billions

Health damage in Sweden from fine particle pollution costs SEK 26 billion (€ 2.4 billion) every year, according to a recent study prepared for the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

Small but dangerous - new facts on particles

Fine particles cause 546,000 premature deaths each year in Europe, of which 39,000 are due to emissions from international shipping.

Worse than worst case...

Carbon dioxide emissions from fossilfuel burning and industrial processes is accelerating not only in industrialized countires, but at a global scale. The emissions growth rate has been over 3 per cent for the present decade, compared to 1.1 per cent during the 1990s.

Greenhouse gas emissions from rich countries still increasing

Almost half of the signatory states to the Kyoto protocol have reached their emission targets. Still overall grenhouse gas emissions is increasing. The USA alone was responsible for over two thirds of the increase in 2007.

Shipping would profit by cutting CO2 emissions

Greenhouse gas emissions from the global shipping industry could be cut by at least one fifth without any cost or even at a profit.

Environmental ship index underway

On request from several leading ports in northwestern Europe, including Le Havre, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremen and Hamburg, the Dutch research institute CE Delft has developed an environmental ship index to be implemented voluntarily from 2010 to promote greener shipping.

Ships pollute half as much as world’s cars

Since most shipping traffic takes place close to the coastline, ship emissions are a significant health concern.

The double benefits of climate policy

Action to cut greenhouse gas emissions could save millions of lives because of the cleaner air that would result.

Cleaner ship fuels to save American lives

The United States and Canada want ships to burn cleaner fuel when approaching the continent to reduce smog-related deaths.

Editorial: Europe needs Emission Control Areas

Over the last twenty years, fuel and emission standards for land-based transport have been dramatically strengthened over most of the world. But international shipping has for a long time resisted similar legislation, both as regards emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.

Recent publications

Environmental effects of the proposal for the directive on industrial emissions (IED)

A push for cleaner industrial production

Off track – Inflated claims of the car industry

Air pollution dependency on climate variability and source region

20 years with monitoring effects of long-range transboundary air pollution on surface waters in Europe and North America
 

Swedish air quality not improving

Air quality in Sweden has indeed improved in the past 20–30 years, but lately there has been no improvement and there are no indications that it will improve further in the next few years ..

Speed limits can reduce air pollution

Levels of air pollution can be significantly reduced in urban areas by introducing traffic speed limits, according to a new study. Air quality was studied along a section of the Amsterdam ring road ..

New tool to evaluate local air quality

A new computer-based tool has been developed in Sweden to help local authorities evaluate air pollution at street level. It allows the results to be compared easily ..

Court overturns US air quality standards

A federal appeals court has ruled that Bush-era clean air standards for fine particles (PM2.5) were insufficient, sending them back to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be rewritten ..

Air pollution endangers lives of 6 in 10 Americans

Sixty per cent of Americans – 186.1 million people – live in areas where air pollution endangers lives, according to the 10th State of the Air report by the American Lung Association ..

The biggest global health threat of the 21st century

A major report on managing the health effects of climate change, launched jointly by The Lancet and University College London (UCL), says that climate change is the biggest global health ..

EU energy and climate package adopted

On 6 April the Council of the European Union formally adopted the six legislative texts that make up the energy and climate package that was tentatively agreed between the Council ..

Ship pollution costs billions

Air pollutant emissions from ships operating in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea are responsible for health damage in Europe valued at 182 billion Danish kronor (DKK) (24 billion Euro) per year ..

Obama sets limits on car CO2 emissions

A compromise to set new US-wide fuel consumption standards for new cars and trucks in return for California backing off its push for more stringent rules on automakers ..

California adopts lowcarbon fuel standard

On 23 April the California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted a regulation that will implement a new and unique lowcarbon fuel standard ..

Fuel-efficient cars lead to lower oil prices

Fuel efficiency standards for new vehicles will lead to a lower global oil price according to a study by Enerdata energy consulting, commissioned by environmental group ..