MEM54

MEM
MARINE ENGINEERS MESSENGER
Telegraph
Eighty-two. That’s how old I’ll be when shipping will be as clean as the
proverbial whistle. In truth, it won’t be that clean, only 50% clean, so
not really clean at all. But heyho, we’re making an effort, aren’t we?
Of course, the MEPC 72 decision last week to reduce shipping industry
emissions by half the amount they were in 2008 is all well and good, but by
2050, the industry will still be spewing out a lot of carbon - unless a
completely new clean energy source has been found by then.
In 2007, before shipping approached the economic doldrums,
compelling many to save fuel costs and slow steam, global shipping was
estimated to have emitted about 885 million tonnes of CO2 - 2.8% of the
CO2 emitted worldwide for that year.
Five years later, in 2012, it emitted 796 million tonnes of CO2, which
accounted for 2.2% of the total global CO2. (Containerships accounted for
about 25% of shipping’s carbon footprint.) That’s a reduction of 89 million
tonnes. So, if the same level of reduction is applied, then the shipping
industry is on target but it will still be emitting 350 million tonnes or so in
2050.
Any decision to reduce shipping’s impact on the environment is
welcome, of course it is, but what bothers me is just how will the industry
undertake this mamoth task, and more to the point, who will pay for it?
While it is wholly right that the International Maritime Organisation has
taken steps to reduce emissions with a clearly defined set of goals, it must
now look at practical ways to meet the target. IMO must work with
Adminstrations, NGOs, Class, industry associations and shipowners to
understand the best technical and operational solutions available.
The mandatory scrapping of older tonnage and the mandatory
retrofitting of new, cleaner engines or technologies capable of reducing fuel
consumption dramatically are options, while orders for ships that use
renewabale energy sources, such as wind power, are likely to increase over
the next decade.
But whatever technical solution is adopted, it has to be capable of
reducing shipping’s carbon footprint by 17.8 million tonnes year-on-year
for the next thirty-two years. And that’s a lot of carbon. The longer we dilly
dally, the harder it will be to clean up, and the more costly it will become.
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15 April 2018
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