EMEA News
EU Ports See 66% Reduction in Sulfur Dioxide
The European Commission's (EC) Joint Research Centre (JRC) said today that European harbours had an average decrease of 66% in concentrations of sulfur dioxide following a European Union (EU) directive effective January 2010 requiring low-sulfur fuels for ships at berth or at anchor in ports.
The air quality measurements were carried out using an automated monitoring station on the cruise ship Costa Pacifica which followed a fixed weekly route in the Western Mediterranean during 2009 and 2010, with the results from EU ports being compared to non-EU ports.
In the EU ports of Civitavecchia, Savona, and Palma de Mallorca, daily mean concentrations of sulfur dioxide decreased on average by 66%.
JRC said that due to large day-to-day sulfur dioxide concentration variations in the harbour of Barcelona its measurements were inconclusive, but independent measurements from monitoring stations in the harbour and its vicinity "confirm a strong decrease in sulfur dioxide concentrations from 2009 to 2010."
As there was no decrease in other air pollutants at the ports, combined with no decrease in sulfur dioxide in the Mediterranean harbour of Tunis where the low-sulfur directive was not in effect, JRC concluded that the decreases in sulfur dioxide are a direct consequence of the application of the EU requirements.
Furthermore, JRC said the study demonstrates that ships were the main source of sulfur dioxide in the harbours.
The 2005 amendment of Directive 1999/32/EC required that as of January 2010 all ships at berth or at anchor in European harbours use fuels with a sulfur content of less than 0.1% by weight where previously fuels with a sulfur content of up to 4.5% were allowed.
The results of the study, entitled 'Impact of a European directive on ship emissions on air quality in Mediterranean harbours', have been published in the scientific journal Atmospheric Environment.
