World News
T&E: NOx Emissions Levy on Ships "Most Promising" Tool for EU Shipping Emissions Reductions
Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Transport & Environment (T&E) Thursday said the results of a new study show that a levy on nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions for shipping - of which revenues would be used to fund adoption of NOx abatement measures - is the "most promising tool" for the European Union (EU) and could cut NOx emissions by as much as 70 percent.
The study, which was commissioned by T&E and conducted by environmental consultancies IVL and CE Delft, identifies EU policy options for regulating ship NOx emissions in the EU seas and compares them with proposed International Maritime Organization (IMO) measures.
"Ship NOx emissions affect all EU member states, whether along the Baltic, around the North Sea or the Mediterranean. This study provides a solution for all EU seas," said Faig Abbasov, clean shipping officer at T&E.
The study identified two other EU-level policy tools in addition to the NOx levy and an associated fund, which include a mandatory slow steaming of ships - for which a levy and fund would be an alternative compliance option - and a stand-alone levy on NOx emissions.
"Ambitious EU action has helped slash air pollution on land with emissions from sulfur dioxide falling by 80 percent since 1990," Louise Duprez, senior policy officer with the European Environmental Bureau (EEB)
"The EU must now take similar steps to cut emissions from ships, which have toxic fumes that cause 50,000 premature deaths in Europe each year."
T&E says that shipping's NOx emissions are a "major concern" for both public and environmental health in Europe and its coastal regions.
The organisation notes that NOx emissions from global shipping account for approximately 30 percent of all human-generated NOx emissions.
"NOx from EU shipping remains largely unregulated and, if left unabated, is set to overtake land-based NOx emissions by 2020," concluded T&E.
In April, T&E and Seas At Risk (SAR) said a new study showed improvements in vessel efficiency is being driven by bunker prices and economic cycles, and not because of the uptake of new technologies driven by improved standards such as IMO's Energy-Efficiency Design Index (EEDI).
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 510.00 | 2.50 | 611.00 | 4.00 |
| Rotterdam | 477.00 | 1.00 | 618.50 | 4.00 |
| Houston | 469.50 | 0.50 | 610.00 | 2.00 |
| Fujairah | 501.50 | 1.50 | 708.50 | 3.50 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 532.00 | 2.00 | 711.50 | 0.00 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 489.50 | 0.50 | 637.00 | 0.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 571.00 | 1.00 | 759.00 | 0.50 |
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