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March 2009
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ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
MARCH 31st 2009 - Australia: ten places found to store GHG (31/03)
Australian Government has detected ten places far from the continental coast that could be used for the storage of GHG produced by industries, by putting them into cavities under the sea bed. The Indistry Minister Martin Ferguson announced that the governmental scientific entity Geoscience Australia confirmed that five areas far form the states of Victoria, Southern Australia and Western Australia, and the Northern Territory, containing ten sites, are sufficiently stable to allow the storage of gases.
They are mainly exhausted natural gas basins. The commercial exploration licences of the sites will be available to the companies by the end of the year, the Minister said. The scheme for the commercial utilization of the storage areas for GHG is the first at all in the world and it represents a key component of the Government answer to the climatic change, thus keeping the economic growth.
Ansa.it
MARCH 25th 2009 - Greenpeace: reducing emissions next to zero by 2050
In preparation of the Copenhagen Conference that will be held from 29th March to 9th April, Greenpeace announced that the objective to halve the GHG emissions by the 2050 is not enough if we want to avoid a no-way climatic situation. Last data from the scientific community point out a dramatic acceleration in the climatic changes and their connected impact. For the environmentalist organization the only possible answer is to schedule a 40% emission reduction by 2020 for the industrialized countries and calibrated objective for the developing ones.
An acceleration is required starting from the next deadline of 2015, when, according to Greenpeace, the GHG situation would be stabilized to proceed with a decrease next to zero by the half of the century.
RINNOVABILI.IT
MARCH 24th 2009 - Venice: from the seaweeds the energy for the port
Venice Port Authority presented a project for the realization of a seaweed's central which will allow the port of Venice to be self-sufficient. The project arise from the cooperation between Enalg, which deals with the design, creation and management of electrical plants according to the Solena Group and Solena Biofuel technology. For the realization of this project, there will be constituted eNave, a society (with the 51% participation of the Port Authority and 49% of Enalg) which will deal with the elaboration of the technical and economical project for the startup of a central which uses the photosynthesis of microalgae. The plant will be able to produce 40 MW of electric power with zero impact. Actually, the interest for the environmental policies is a major issue for the development of a modern port that has to make attention to the ecosystem it sets into. Especially in an area of particular naturalistic value, a the Venice lagoon, where the ecological balances have to be necessarily protected.
SHIPPINGONLINE
MARCH 23th 2009 - Flying Soldiers for biofuels
Their scientific name is Hermetia illucen, But they are weel known as "Black Soldier Fly": they are a type of insects which can feed themselves with any organic substance in decomposition and so they can be used a san innovative component in the bio-fuel production. The idea has been tested in Eco System Corp. laboratories where the researchers fed with organic waste a great quantity of adult Hermetie obtaining tons of grubs.
These insects in their embryonic state are rich of proteins, roughage and greases, the former can be used as fish and reptile's food, while oils would be used in bio-fuel production.
Eco System main intention is to take alimentary waste form a rubbish transfer station in Ohio for the feeding of these insects in order to obtain embryos.
The "Black Soldier Fly" is a waste material converter very efficient and is fed with 100 kg of alimentary waste, they could produce 20 kg of grubs. The process is very simple and can be realized at competitive prices with petrol-based diesel. The pilot plant should be able to produce 150,000-190,000 litres for year. In practical terms is means to eliminate from the waste discharges the alimentary part that, if not treated in any other way, would decompose releasing in the air methane, a powerful GHG. This material could instead constitute the raw material for the bio-fuel.
According Eco System estimates, a quarter of all US alimentary waste could bring 100 million gallons of petrol yearly, but in order to demonstrate the validity of the process the company is waiting for a $1,75 millions funding from the USA Energy Dept.
RINNOVABILI.IT
MARCH 19th 2009 - Ecoseas, the ecologic cruise ship
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0y7xGoku1U&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ecoblog.it%2Fcategoria%2Fnavi&feature=player_embedded
The video linked above refers to a presentation, in French language, of the cruise ship Eoseas that is being built in the STX Shipyards (ex Chantiers de l'Atlantique) in Saint-Nazaire. The five-deck giant will be launched, if everything proceeds as scheduled, in five years and will allow a reduction of the power consumption for the 50% and a considerable reduction in GHG emissions.
Along the 305 meters of length, 3400 passengers will find accommodation, five decks, six sails on a total area of 12.440 sq m. The sails will be used with strong wind for the propulsion of the ship, but if the wind is weak they will contribute for the fuel consumption. The 1000 sq m solar panels will provide energy for the lights onboard.
There will also be a GPL plant and an air contribution under the hull which might reduce the water friction for 17% and contribute for the fuel saving. Finally, the ship will be totally built with recyclable materials.
The cost of this ship will be not negligible as Eoseas costs about 30% more than a traditional transatlantic, but its developers are hopeful that they can write off the investments in the long term thanks to the fuel savings.
ECOBLOG
MARCH 16th 2009 - Major progress on energy efficiency for ships during intersessional IMO meeting
Major progress was made in developing measures to enhance energy efficiency in international shipping, and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions, when the second intersessional meeting of IMO's Working Group on Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) from Ships was held at IMO's London headquarters from 9 to 13 March 2009.
The meeting will report to IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) when it meets for its 59th session in July.
The working group, which was attended by more than 200 experts from all over the world, concentrated on the technical and operational measures to reduce GHG from ships - two of the three pillars of IMO's GHG work. The third pillar, possible market-based instruments, will be debated in depth at MEPC 59.
The working group considered a large number of papers from Member Governments and observer organisations on how to increase fuel efficiency in the world fleet.
The main focus was the further refinement of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for new ships, on the basis of experience gained through its trial application over the past six months. The EEDI is meant to stimulate innovation and technical development of all the elements influencing the energy efficiency of a ship, thus making it possible to design and build intrinsically energy efficient ships of the future.
The group also considered how to improve the Energy Efficiency Operational Index (EEOI), which enables operators to measure the fuel efficiency of an existing ship and, therefore, to gauge the effectiveness of any measures adopted to reduce energy consumption. The EEOI has been applied by Member States and the shipping industry, on a trial basis and since 2005, to hundreds of ships in operation; it provides a figure, expressed in grams of CO2 per tonne mile, for the efficiency of a specific ship, enabling comparison of its energy or fuel efficiency to similar ships.
The experts at the meeting debated a draft Ship Energy Management Plan (SEMP) that has been developed by a coalition of industry organizations and agreed to forward it to MEPC 59 for further consideration. The draft SEMP incorporates guidance on best practices, which include improved voyage planning, speed and power optimization, optimized ship handling, improved fleet management and cargo handling, as well as energy management for individual ships.
The outcome of MEPC 59 will be presented to the Conference that the United Nations will convene in Copenhagen in December 2009, which is set to agree on a successor instrument to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
MARCH 6th 2009 - Intersessional Working Group meeting to further develop GHG reduction mechanisms
The Second Intersessional Meeting of IMO's Working Group on Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG) from Ships will be held next week at IMO Headquarters (9 to 13 March, 2009); more than 200 delegates, comprising experts from all over the world, are registered for attendance.
The week-long session is tasked with further developing and finalizing the Energy Efficiency Design Index for new ships and the revised Interim Guidelines on the Energy Efficiency Operational Index.
The Working Group will also consider the introduction of a management tool for all ships, guidance on best practices and other voluntary operational measures, as well as discuss the possible impacts of the measures envisaged on the shipping sector.
The Group will submit a report of its discussions to the 59th session of IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), which will meet from 13 to 17 July 2009. MEPC 59 is also expected to further discuss market-based measures, following consideration of the issue at MEPC 58 in October last year.
Although, to date, no mandatory GHG instrument for international shipping has been adopted, IMO has given extensive consideration to the matter, with substantive progress being made in 2008 at the first GHG Working Group intersessional meeting (in June 2008) and at MEPC 58.
MEPC 59 will report on the measures agreed to reduce GHG from ships to the Conference that the United Nations will convene in Copenhagen in December 2009, which is set to agree on a successor instrument to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
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