Suchergebnisse

In recent times, there is an increase in installations of Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) on ships due to international regulations on sulphur content restrictions in marine fuels. EGCS reduce sulphur oxide emissions by cleaning exhausts but instead emit polluted acidic water to the marine environment. The present report provides an overall review on the status quo of EGCS, with special focus on discharge water. It is based on a literature review and covers technical aspects, market analyses, regulatory framework and research activities related to this topic. The market analyses indicate that the current number of ships with EGCS is above 3,000, representing more than 16.8% of the dead weight tons (DWT) of the global fleet. The future development of the EGCS market may be affected by the fluctuation of fuel prices, the uncertainty in fuel demand and availability, the modification of legal framework and the development of new technologies. Several deficiencies were identified in the discharge water quality criteria established in the EGCS Guidelines of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Further, prior research studies demonstrated an acidic pH and the presence of several pollutants such as heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), oil residues and nitrate in relevant concentrations in EGCS discharge water. In addition, ecotoxicological analyses indicated toxicity effects and that the single-pollutant approach alone is not sufficient for the environmental risk assessment of EGCS discharge water. Thus, despite the current regulation, concerns regarding the impacts on the marine environment due to these emissions remain. Considering that, present and future studies should provide valuable input to the process of appropriate regulation.

Im Rahmen des hier dargestellten Projektes ist eine Black Carbon (BC)-Messkampagne an der Universität Rostock erfolgreich ausgeführt worden. Die Messkampagne wurde vom 11. bis zum 22. Juli 2016 von der Universität Rostock, dem National Research Council Canada (NRC), dem Helmholtz Zentrum München und AVL durchgeführt - unterstützt durch Marena Ltd., CE Delft und das Öko-Institut. Die Messungen sind an dem Motorenprüfstand im Labor der Universität Rostock unter Verwendung eines einzylindrigen Dieselmotors mit Direkteinspritzung (1VDS18/15CR), sechs BC-Messinstrumenten (PAX, LII-1, LII-2, TOA, AVL 415SE und MSS), unter Verwendung drei verschiedener Treibstoffe und bei verschiedenen Motorleistungen durchgeführt worden. Nach der Messkampagne sind die Messergebnisse analysiert und in drei Submissionen beim Unterausschuss für die Verhütung und Bekämpfung der Meeresverschmutzung (PPR) der Internationale Seeschifffahrts-Organisation (IMO) veröffentlicht worden; zwei Submissionen zur vierten Sitzung des PPR in 2017 (PPR4/INF9, PPR4/9/4) und eine Submission zur fünften Sitzung des PPR in 2018 (PPR 5/INF.10). Diese Submissionen sind gemeinsam von Kanada und Deutschland eingereicht worden. Sie wurden in Zusammenarbeit von Marena Ltd., dem NRC Canada, der Universität Rostock, AVL, dem Umweltbundesamt und den zuständigen Ministerien der beiden Staaten erarbeitet. In der Submission PPR4/INF.9 "Technical details of a multi-instrument Black Carbon measurement campaign" sind die technischen Details der Messkampagne und in der PPR4/9/4 Submission "Results of a multi-instrument Black Carbon measurement campaign" sind die Ergebnisse der BC-Messungen dargestellt worden. In der dritten Submission PPR 5/INF.10, "New findings of a multi-instrument Black Carbon measurement campaign" sind nach weiteren Analysen der Messdaten weitere Ergebnisse präsentiert worden.

Following the implementation of international regulations to reduce sulphur oxide emissions in maritime shipping, scrubbers are used on about 25 % of the world merchant fleet (measured by deadweight tonnage). In the present study, a sampling and measurement campaign was conducted on board four ships with focus on the chemical characterisation and the determination of ecotoxicological effects of scrubber discharge water. Heavy metals such as vanadium, nickel, copper, iron and zinc as well as organic pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (even beyond the ones included in the US EPA priority list) and oil residues, were found in elevated concentrations. The whole effluent toxicity of the scrubber discharge waters ranged from practically non-toxic to considerably toxic for the open loop to extremely toxic for the closed loop operation mode samples. Further, almost all samples demonstrated mutagenic and the closed loop samples, dioxin-like effects. Thus, the release of scrubber discharge water from both operation modes into the sea is of high concern. This effluent is acidic and contains persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic pollutants that may cause short- and long-term detrimental effects in the marine environment. In this regard, the current discharge criteria and regulatory measures were found to be insufficient and other protective measures for the marine environment such as local or regional discharge bans are proposed.

Aviation and maritime transport are not explicitly mentioned in the Paris Agreement. In Article 4, however, the Parties aim to achieve a balance between anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and sinks - in other words, complete decarbonisation and climate neutrality - in the second half of this century. Since emissions from aviation and maritime transport are clearly anthropogenic, they fall within the scope of the Paris Agreement goals even without being explicitly mentioned. Within the scope of this project, BMU and UBA received comprehensive and timely support on many issues relating to greenhouse gas mitigation in international aviation and maritime transport. This support ranged from quantitative analysis of current proposals for policies or instruments to ad hoc support in and between negotiations of international bodies (ICAO, IMO, EU, etc.) and to further development of existing instruments or development of their own policy proposals. Over the course of this project, the discussion about greenhouse gas reductions in aviation and maritime transport moved somewhat towards a reduction path that is compatible with the Paris Agreement. This project has contributed to that change, thereby fulfilling its original objective. Nevertheless, international aviation and maritime transport are still far off a reduction path that is compatible with the Paris Agreement. With this in mind, efforts to make international agreements with ambitious targets and instruments must not diminish.