World Bunkering > News > Spring 2011 > 'Green' options?

A new report from a European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) describes technological solutions and proposes policy options for reducing carbon emissions and air pollution in the shipping sector.

‘Regulating air emissions from ships: the state of the art on methodologies, technologies and policy options’ highlights the uncertainties due to lack of data regarding ships’ emissions. It details the legal and economic/commercial problems associated with any attempt to bring shipping within the EU Emissions Trading System.

The JRC says: “Although maritime transport has the lowest ratio of CO2 emissions per tonne, its GHG emissions are expected to significantly increase from currently around 1 giga-tonne per year, by an estimated 150-200% over the next four decades.” The study only briefly considers the cooling effects of SOx particles in the atmosphere, which it describes as causing a temporary cooling effect which masks the overall warming effect of greenhouse gases. It notes that this effect appears to be greatest away from the coast.

According to the JRC, technical solutions to reduce fuel consumption, air pollutants and greenhouse gases are readily available and range from better ship design, propulsion and machinery to optimised operation.

Reflecting JRC’s conclusion, the past quarter has seen several promising initiatives. Among these Germanischer Lloyd (GL) subsidiary FutureShip says that it has significantly improved the lines of a design to be used for a series of 9,000 TEU containerships in a joint venture with the Chinese design office, Maric. As a result of the optimisation, a smaller main engine can be installed than originally anticipated. The fuel consumption is reduced by more than 10% and CO2 emissions are cut by more than 90 tonnes per day.

GL’s advanced design is based on the use of conventional bunkers but, even more radically, Norwegian classification society DNV has unveiled a new LNG-fuelled crude oil tanker concept that “has a hull shape that removes the need for ballast water and will almost eliminate local air pollution”. DNV says that its concept vessel Triality also recovers hundreds of tonnes of cargo vapours on each voyage and represents a major step towards the new environmental era for the tanker shipping industry.

While many in the bunkering and shipping industries remain sceptical that there will be a mass switch to LNG in the short or medium terms, this option has been receiving a lot of publicity in recent months. DNV CEO Henrik Madsen, says: “I am convinced that gas will become the dominant fuel for merchant ships. By 2020, the majority of owners will order ships that can operate on liquefied natural gas (LNG).”

Switching the commercial fleet to LNG fuel is certainly a bold proposal but is outdone in that regard by the increasingly serious suggestions that nuclear power should have a role in powering part of the world’s merchant fleet. News came in November that members of a new research consortium, which includes Lloyd’s Register, Enterprises Shipping and Trading, Hyperion Power Generation and BMT Nigel Gee, are to examine the marine applications for small modular reactors (SMRs).

The consortium plans to investigate the practical maritime applications for small modular reactors as commercial tanker owners search for new designs that could deliver safer, cleaner and commercially viable forms of propulsion for the global fleet. It believes nuclear power is technically feasible and has the potential to drastically reduce the CO2 emissions caused by commercial shipping.

“This a very exciting project,” said Lloyd’s Register ceo Richard Sadler. “We believe that as society recognises the limited choices available in the low-carbon, oil-scarce economy – and as land-based nuclear plants become commonplace – we will see nuclear ships on specific trade routes sooner than many people currently anticipate.”