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As ships get bigger, the pollution is getting worse. The most staggering statistic of all is that just 16 of the world’s largest ships can produce as much lung-clogging sulphur pollution as all the world’s cars.
There are now an estimated 100,000 ships on the seas, and the fleet is growing fast as goods are ferried in vast quantities from Asian industrial powerhouses to consumers in Europe and North America.
James Corbett, of the University of Delaware, is an authority on ship emissions. He calculates a worldwide death toll of about 64,000 a year, of which 27,000 are in Europe. Britain is one of the worst-hit countries, with about 2,000 deaths from funnel fumes. Corbett predicts the global figure will rise to 87,000 deaths a year by 2012.
For decades, the IMO has rebuffed calls to clean up ship pollution. As a result, while it has long since been illegal to belch black, sulphur-laden smoke from power-station chimneys or lorry exhausts, shipping has kept its licence to pollute.
A year ago, the IMO belatedly decided to clean up its act. It said shipping fuel should not contain more than 3.5 per cent sulphur by 2012 and eventually must come down to 0.5 per cent. This lower figure could halve the deaths, says Corbett.
It should not be hard to do. There is no reason ship engines cannot run on clean fuel, like cars. But, away from a handful of low-sulphur zones, including the English Channel and North Sea, the IMO gave shipping lines a staggering 12 years to make the switch. And, even then, it will depend on a final ‘feasibility review’ in 2018.
In the meantime, according to Corbett’s figures, nearly one million more people will die.
Originally posted by Alaskan Man
never here Al Gore mention this, maybe it will hurt his masters...
make sure you by an electric car to save the earth, oh and don't forget to wave to all those ships in your local port.
Originally posted by ChemBreather
Hehehe, Al Gore is a massive SnakeOil salesman.
He uses more energy than any regular american and he buys Co2 quota (?) from his own company...
Originally posted by xSMOKING_GUNx
This is not a global warming thread, it is more of a pollution and health thread.
Originally posted by Detailed Perfection
16 ships = 800,000,000 automobiles
That seems very hard to believe to me, to be honest.
How are they relating the correlation between the two?
16 ships operating for 1 hour = 1 hour of global traffic?
16 ships operating for 10 years = 1 year of global traffic?
Bunker fuel is also thick with sulphur. IMO rules allow ships to burn fuel containing up to 4.5 per cent sulphur. That is 4,500 times more than is allowed in car fuel in
Thanks to the IMO’s rules, the largest ships can each emit as much as 5,000 tons of sulphur in a year – the same as 50million typical cars, each emitting an average of 100 grams of sulphur a year.
Hjalti Pall Ingolfsson from Icelandic New Energy, commented that ships are fast becoming the biggest source of air pollution in the EU. It is estimated that by 2020 emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from ships will exceed land-based emissions in Europe.
and also that
IMO rules allow ships to burn fuel containing up to 4.5 per cent sulphur.
A year ago, the IMO belatedly decided to clean up its act. It said shipping fuel should not contain more than 3.5 per cent sulphur by 2012
Source: www.npradc.org...
On January 1, 2006, the sulfur content for gasoline produced at most refineries was lowered to a per-gallon maximum of 80 parts per million (ppm), with an overall maximum annual average of 30 ppm.
Source: www.npradc.org...
The sulfur content of this fuel – called Ultra Low-Sulfur Diesel, or U'___' – may not exceed 15 parts per million (ppm). EPA’s rules required 80 percent of highway diesel fuel to meet the new standard by June 2006, and by June 2010, all highway diesel fuel must meet the 15 ppm standard.
Originally posted by xSMOKING_GUNx
As ships get bigger, the pollution is getting worse. The most staggering statistic of all is that just 16 of the world’s largest ships can produce as much lung-clogging sulphur pollution as all the world’s cars.
Hmm; interesting..............
The Association of British Drivers:
Exhausts can also contain Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) from impurities in the fuel, but only 3% of the total emissions of this substance come from transport, the rest mainly from industry and power generation.