[Pil-pc-oceania] More carbon news

[Andrew Leahy]

I'd just like to add - the airline industry has regularly trotted out
figures on the TOTAL emissions of shipping vs flying to defend their
emissions.
But these numbers don't tell us the emissions per carried tonne.

Far, far, far more bulk cargo is carried by sea than air.
And critical cargo too - grain, foodstuffs, raw material, equipment, etc.

The main cargo travelling by air is what?
Affluent humans (and their luggage) going on holidays.

Sea-travel has plenty of options for efficiency gains over aeroplanes
- you can easily use alternative fuels in diesel engines and/or
electric motors (even, dare I suggest nuclear?), ships can be huge
(for example, the mega container ships that the Danes and Chinese are
building), and there's always wind!

Still it's good to see shipping emissions coming under scrutiny.

Cheers, Andrew
(bias weekend sailor :)

On 14/02/2008, Terry Leahy <Terry.Leahy at newcastle.edu.au> wrote:
> Dear All,
>
> Interesting to hear about the emissions from shipping.  This is
> probably one of the easiest forms of transport to deal with in the long
> term if there was the political will to do so - we could go to sailing
> ships or some kind of sailing/solar combo.  I doubt if there are any
> other easy solutions except cutting global trade; which could be a good
> idea for many reasons,
>
> Cheers,
>
> Terry
>
> >>> RussGrayson <info at pacific-edge.info> Wednesday, 13 February 2008
> 11:54 am >>>
> SOURCE: The Guardian, today's edition...
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/feb/13/climatechange.pollution
>
>
> True scale of C02 emissions from shipping revealed
>
> Leaked UN report says pollution three times higher than previously
> thought
> John Vidal, environment editor
> The Guardian, Wednesday February 13 2008
>
> The true scale of climate change emissions from shipping is almost
> three
> times higher than previously believed, according to a leaked UN study
> seen
> by the Guardian.
>
> It calculates that annual emissions from the world's merchant fleet
> have
> already reached 1.12bn tonnes of CO², or nearly 4.5% of all global
> emissions
> of the main greenhouse gas.
>
> The report suggests that shipping emissions - which are not taken into
> account by European targets for cutting global warming - will become
> one of
> the largest single sources of manmade CO² after cars, housing,
> agriculture
> and industry. By comparison, the aviation industry, which has been
> under
> heavy pressure to clean up, is responsible for about 650m tonnes of
> CO²
> emissions a year, just over half that from shipping.
>
> Until now, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has
> estimated
> shipping emissions to be a maximum 400m tonnes, but the new draft
> report by
> a group of international scientists is a more sophisticated measure,
> using
> data collected from the oil and shipping industries for the
> International
> Maritime Organisation, the UN agency tasked with monitoring pollution
> from
> ships. It not only shows emissions are much worse than feared, but
> warns CO²
> emissions are set to rise by a further 30% by 2020.
>
> Contacted about the contents of the report, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair
> of
> the IPCC, said: "This is a clear failure of the system. The shipping
> industry has so far escaped publicity. It has been left out of the
> climate
> change discussion. I hope [shipping emissions] will be included in the
> next
> UN agreement. It would be a cop-out if it was not. It tells me that we
> have
> been ineffective at tackling climate change so far."
>
> The figure is highly embarrassing for the four governments, including
> Britain, that paid for the report. Governments and the EU have
> consistently
> played down the climate impact of shipping, saying it is less than 2%
> of
> global emissions and failing to include shipping emissions in their
> national
> estimates for CO² emissions.
>
> Pressure is now expected to increase on shipowners to switch to better
> fuels
> and on the EU to include shipping in its emission trading scheme. Last
> month
> aviation was provisionally included following intense pressure - but
> shipping escaped.
>
> Previous attempts by the industry to calculate levels of carbon
> emissions
> were largely based on the quantity of low grade fuel bought by
> shipowners.
> The latest UN figures are considered more accurate because they are
> based on
> the known engine size of the world's ships, as well as the time they
> spend
> at sea and the amount of low grade fuel sold to shipowners.
>
> The UN report also reveals that other pollutants from shipping are
> rising
> even faster than CO² emissions. Sulphur and soot emissions, which give
> rise
> to lung cancers, acid rain and respiratory problems are expected to
> rise
> more than 30% over the next 12 years.
> .............

-- 
Fact: To manufacture a 3 tonne car requires 50 tonnes of raw material.
Fact: In your lifetime you will eat 50 tonnes of food and produce 3
tonnes of poo :)