The shipping industry could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 33%, if they slow down, according to a new report.
If you slow ships down, you need more ships to move the same amount of
cargo in a given time and this has been one of the arguments used
against reducing the speed of ships.
However, the study, titled “Going Slow to Reduce Emissions,” shows that for the most important fleet segments–tankers, bulk carriers and container ships–the recent economic
downturn has resulted in sufficient overcapacity in the fleet to cut
emissions by around 30% by slow steaming.
The report was commissioned by Seas At Risk, undertaken by C.E. Delft and was presented Wednesday at a side event at the 60th session of the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee.
In short, the study shows that the current overcapacity in the fleet presents the global shipping industry with a golden opportunity to make substantial reductions in GHG emissions in the short term.
This is particularly important given the urgent need to peak emissions in the next few years if global warming is to be kept well below 2 degrees and catastrophic consequences avoided.
Speed reduction is an important part of the package of measures that will be necessary if the shipping industry is to make a proper contribution to the very large cuts in emissions that are necessary to avoid runaway climate change.
The report’s presentation coincides with an important stage in IMO deliberations concerning the technical, operational and market-based approaches to tackle GHG emissions from shipping. The IMO Secretary General’s statement that the means chosen to reduce emissions must be realistic, cost-effective and well-balanced.
The report is available as a pdf at the link below.
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