SMM: Workshop Held on CO2 Emissions in Shipping Industry, Germany

The stabilization of CO2 emissions in the shipping industry has been the burning topic at today’s CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions workshop, held within the framework of SMM’s Global Maritime Environmental Congress (GMEC) in Hamburg, Germany.

“The CO2 emission is a wide concern”, Torsten Schram, COO of Germanischer Lloyd, who was in charge of moderating the workshop, stated at the key note address, adding that the ways to cut the carbon emission in shipping is of extreme importance.

Alternative fuels need to be introduced, such as LNG, Mr. Schram pointed out, continuing that it is just a matter of time before LNG gains a worldwide use.

Even though certain studies claim that the U.S. has managed to reduce its emissions by more than 7%, there is still a need for the shipping industry to innovate its way to a solution since there is an immediate threat of climate change and temperature rise from 2 to 7 C° by 2050.

The exact target for reducing the emissions is not quite clear with regard to the stakeholders in the shipping industry, however, a possible direction is seen in the IMO’s regulations, namely the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) and Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP).

“International shipping accounts for 2.7% of the world´s Co2 emissions. If the international shipping continues to grow at the same pace as it has been doing then, based on the business as usual policy, there will be a rise from 2,000 to 3,000 mt of CO2 by the year of 2050.

“What is more, if the shipping industry continues to grow at the business as usual base, shipping will account to 12 to 18% of global CO2 emissions, which is a significant increase from the current rate of 2.7%”, Katherine Palmer, Environment Manager of Lloyd´s Register stated.

“Obviously in the short term it is the uncertainty of the fuel prices that will have the greatest impact on the effectiveness of the ship energy efficiency management plan in reducing the overall CO2 emissions. So, proper execution of energy measures may need to be stimulated by more than just high fuel prices, requiring effective audit or monitoring systems and building awareness and introducing split incentives to facilitate the process”, she added.

According to her, the first step in enabling the designing of global measures to reduce emissions is bringing all the stakeholders together and joining forces in prevention of overusing the planet’s capabilities.

[mappress]
LNG World News Staff, September 04, 2012