EMEA News
Scrubbers "No Solution" to Air Pollution from Ships, says Study
Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) Friday announced in an emailed statement the results of a study it says shows that "scrubbers are no solution to air pollution from ships."
"Simply discharging harmful substances into the ocean instead of to the air will not result in an improvement for the environment," said NABU CEO Leif Miller.
"Our report shows that currently scrubbers cannot be considered a solution, neither in ecological nor in economical terms," he added.
Since January 1, 2015, fuel used by vessels operating within Emission Control Areas (ECAs) is limited to a maximum sulfur content of 0.10 percent by weight, down from the previous limit of 1.0 percent.
However non-compliant fuel is permitted to be used in conjunction with technology, such as scrubbers, that reduces vessel emissions by an equivalent amount.
The study, conducted for NABU by Dutch research institute CE Delft, says it has to be assumed that "persistent substances" like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and arsenic, as well as nitrates, and sulfur accumulate in the marine environment.
"This may lead to an infringement of critical loads over time and in particular in areas with dense ship traffic," the study concludes, adding that the same is true with regards the acidification of the ocean.
According to the study, the market for scrubbers is "highly dynamic at the moment", due to the recent tightening of the sulfur limits withing ECAs.
NABU said around 80 scrubbers were in operation at the time of writing across a global fleet of 55,000 vessels, with a further 300 on order.
While the majority of the 14,000 ships affected by ECA rules are choosing to switch to marine gasoil (MGO) within ECA limits, the use of scrubbers as a method of sulfur compliance will grow, says the study.
The world's largest cruise operator, Carnival, has said it is underway with installation of scrubbers on at least 70 of its fleet.
Investing "Money in The Wrong Technology"
"Scrubbers must also be rejected as they allow ship owners to continue to sail on heavy fuel oil instead of investing in cleaner fuels and eco-friendly drives," said NABU's Transport Policy Officer, Daniel Rieger.
"Ship owners who opt for scrubbers invest a lot of money in the wrong technology," suggesting that investment in Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or MGO combined with particle filters and selective catalytic reduction systems were a cleaner alternative.
Furthmore, the study says the business case for scrubbers, which enables the continued use of cheaper, heavy fuel oil (HFO) bunkers, has been too optimistically stated.
Its economic model suggests a best case scenario of €500,000 ($523,000) of benefit annually per ship, with NABU's announcement adding that "it is very hard to develop a positive business case for scrubber operation" at current bunker prices.
In January, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) agreed to update guidelines on scrubber washwater to allow for a calculation based method of measuring acidity levels of discharged washwater.
