Sea change

In-Depth

Marine transport has recently come under fire for being environmentally unfriendly, but global initiatives are under way to help it improve efficiency, says Peter French.

For some time now shipping has hidden gratefully in the shadow of the aviation industry when the subject of greenhouse gas emissions has been in the news, taking comfort from the knowledge that it remains the most environmentally friendly means of transporting freight around the world.

But recently this has changed. There have been damaging headlines such as 'Ships' CO

twice that of planes' and a widely-publicised report stating that particulate matter from ships causes approximately 60,000 deaths a year from respiratory illnesses.

Today, when we talk about commercial marine transportation, we are essentially discussing diesel-driven motor ships. When we talk about the environmental impact of shipping, many of the issues are those associated with the diesel engine.

And while engine-driven ships do not have to emit sulphur compounds, if they are using any form of hydrocarbon as fuel then chemistry dictates that around three tonnes of CO

will be emitted for every tonne of fuel burned. This applies as much to clean fuel, such as natural gas, as it does to heavy fuel oil.

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