Current and future emission estimates of exhaust gases and particles from shipping at the largest port in Korea

Digitalization and innovation in green ports: A review of current issues, contributions and the way forward in promoting sustainable ports and maritime logistics

As a fundamental transportation mode, maritime logistics has become an indispensable component on a global scale. However, there are multiple drawbacks associated with ports operating in traditional ways, such as higher cost, lower efficiency and generating more environmental pollution. Digital technologies have been researched and implemented gradually in green ports, especially in data collection and real-time monitoring, and these advances help to promote higher work efficiency and reduce detrimental environmental impacts. It was found that green ports (e.g. ports of Raffina, Los Angeles, and Long Beach) generally perform better in energy conservation and pollutant emission reduction. However, considering the variability in the level of digitalization, there are challenges in achieving effective communications between individual ports. Therefore, to optimize and update green port practices, a systematic review is necessary to comprehensively analyze the beneficial contributions of green ports. This review adopted bibliometric analysis to examine the shipping framework focusing on green ports digitalization and innovation. After that, with regards to the bibliometric results, five aspects were analyzed, including environment, performance, policy, technology, and management. Besides, intelligent life-cycle management was systematically discussed to improve green ports and maritime logistics performance and sustainability in three aspects, namely waste discharge, shipping management system and green ports management. The findings revealed that green ports and maritime logistics require digital cooperation, transformation, and management to achieve sustainable development goals, including route selection and control of ships' numbers, weather prediction, and navigational effluent monitoring, albeit with some obstacles.

Analysis of the uncertainty of the AIS-based bottom-up approach for estimating ship emissions

Although the AIS-based bottom-up approach has become the dominant method for estimating ship emissions, there are still inherent uncertainties due to the numerous complex factors involved. This paper aims to investigate the development process of the AIS-based bottom-up approach and identify the primary sources of uncertainty by conducting a systematic review of 29 articles published since 2015. The result shows three sources of uncertainty for estimating ship emissions, i.e., the acquisition and processing of AIS data, ship characteristic information and engine load calculation, and the determination of emission factors. This paper suggests that the accuracy of ship emission inventories can be improved by enhancing the reliability of datasets, uniformly defining engine load calculation formulas, and making more extensive measurements of local emissions to provide substantial support for ship emissions management and facilitate the development of more effective emission reduction strategies.

Estimation methods and reduction strategies of port carbon emissions - what literatures say?

Carbon emissions from port operational activities significantly contribute to climate change and have gained attention from researchers. However, there is a notable deficiency in systematically analyzing port carbon emissions' estimation methods and reduction strategies. This study reviewed 49 academic literatures to examine the port's carbon emissions estimation methodologies, quantitative research outcomes, and reduction techniques. The analysis results revealed: (1) Estimates of port carbon emissions frequently tend to underestimate actual emissions due to the omission of specific sources. (2) Inherent variances across ports present challenges in establishing a universally applicable estimation methodology. (3) Port carbon emissions reduction strategies involve operational optimization, dispatching, equipment transformation, and energy management. Future research directions were proposed, including comprehensive emissions source estimation, harmonization of estimation methodologies, equipment-integrated scheduling, port automation and electrification, and energy management. This study guides the development of the port's carbon emission estimation and reduction, aiding port operators in efficient production management.

Evaluation of air quality simulation with a coupled atmosphere-ocean model: A case study on natural marine and biogenic emissions

In this study, a chemical transport model (i.e., Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system with brute-force method (BFM)) was used in combination with atmosphere-ocean coupling to evaluate the impact of natural emissions (e.g., marine dimethyl sulfide (DMS), sea salt aerosol (SSA), and biogenic compounds) on the air quality of South Korea in the spring of 2019 (May 1-31). Overall, the coupled simulation results exhibited good agreement with the observations for meteorological fields and air quality (fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and ozone (O₃)) compared to those obtained using the non-coupled simulation. The coupling effect in the study area tended to be strong in the presence of relatively strong winds (≥4 m s^-1). The mean contributions of natural marine (DMS and SSA) and biogenic emissions to total PM_2.5 mass reached ~8.2 % over the marine area and ~ 9.1 % over the land area, respectively. On average, biogenic emissions contributed 8.6 %, 29.3 % (and 27.3 %) to the concentrations of O₃, secondary organic aerosol (SOA) (and organic carbon (OC)), respectively, over the land area. Isoprene and monoterpene contributed 40 % and 20 %, respectively, to biogenic SOA production over the land area and biogenic SOA accounted for 1.7 % and 7.8 % of the total O₃ and PM_2.5, respectively. Secondary aerosol formation was enhanced by gas-to-particle conversion processes due to the coupling effect. Therefore, this modeling study confirmed the non-negligible impact of natural emissions on the air quality in the study area. In addition, the study area is likely to be associated with VOC-limited conditions because of significantly enhanced photochemical O₃ production owing to biogenic emissions.

Estimation of Shipping Emissions in Developing Country: A Case Study of Mohammad Bin Qasim Port, Pakistan

Transportation has the highest dependence on fossil fuels of any sector and accounts for 37% of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Maritime transportation is responsible for around 940 million tons of CO₂ and approximately 3% of global emissions annually. The significant increase in shipping activities around the globe has magnified the generation of toxic pollutants. In recent years, shipping emissions have received significant attention in developed countries due to global climate change, while in developing countries, researchers are making enormous efforts to tackle this catastrophic and pressing issue. This study considers Muhammad Bin Qasim Port (MBQP), Karachi, Pakistan as a case study. This study employed an activity-based or bottom-up approach with a standard procedure to estimate the various anthropogenic pollutants emissions including particular matters (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5), nitrogen oxide (NO_x), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), CO₂, methane (CH₄), non-methane volatile organic compound (NMVOC), and hydrocarbon (HC) under different operational modes, i.e., hoteling, maneuvering, and reduced speed zones. The results indicated that CO₂ was the highest contributor with a proportion of 92%, NO_x 5%, and SO₂ 1.5% for all three operational modes. Moreover, the results indicated that container ships account for 64% of overall emissions, followed by tankers for 24%. Regarding the monthly trend, the findings revealed that November and December had the highest emission rates, with over 20% of the total emissions recorded. This study's findings will assist stakeholders and policymakers to prioritize maritime emissions in developing countries.

Methodology to Assess the Technoeconomic Impacts of the EU Fit for 55 Legislation Package in Relation to Shipping

The recent inclusion of shipping in the Fit for 55 legislation package will have large knock-on effects on the industry and consequently on end consumers. The present paper presents an innovative top-down methodology, the MSF455 model, which estimates the new vessel Operational Expenditure (OPEX) as per the provisions of the Fit for 55 package and various scenarios based on carbon tax, penalty allowances, maritime fuel tax and effect. The methodology is presented and tested against six scenarios that are based on Det Norske Veritas’s (DNV) fuel maritime projections. The model illustrates that the distinction between intra-EU and extra-EU penalty allowance creates a large disparity and thus reduction in the competitiveness of goods (produced and transported).

A Study on the Framework for Estimating Ship Air Pollutant Emissions—Focusing on Ports of South Korea

With the globalization of trade and the rapid development of the world economy, the problem of air pollution emissions produced by shipping is becoming more serious. The exhaust gas emitted by ships has become a significant source of air pollution in ocean and coastal areas. In recent years, governments have paid more attention to shipping emissions as a major source of environmental problems. Establishing ship emission inventories plays an important role in formulating ship emission control measures and regulations. This study aimed to propose a framework for calculating ship air pollutant emissions by comprehensively considering processes and methods officially used in developed countries such as the US and those in the EU, as well as South Korean circumstances and available data sets. The framework was divided into three sections: defining the inventory, data collection and analysis of the data, and ship air pollutant emission estimation. The results of this study provided a standard for South Korean domestic port emission inventories. A case study focused on the Gwangyang and Yeosu Ports, one of the leading port areas in South Korea, using adaptive data collection and emission-calculation processes. This study can be used as guidelines when the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) or the Ministry of Environment (MOE) adopts a standard process in South Korea in the near future. Subsequently, it is necessary to establish a national port emission management system to respond to world environmental changes.

Port-Related Shipping Gas Emissions—A Systematic Review of Research

The global increase in shipping activity has contributed to the degradation of air quality, which particularly affects traffic-dense port areas. Due to the environmental and public health impacts of air quality in port cities, a number of inventories using varying methodologies have been conducted over the past two decades to manage gas emissions in specific areas. The objective of this work is to determine one relevant methodology for estimating ship emissions in ports through a systematic review of the relevant literature. In this research, PRISMA guidelines were followed through a multi-layer bottom-up analysis approach to ensure the validity of the proposed methodology. The aforementioned methodology, as the end result of this research, is intended to provide an empirically structured basis for further development of a novel indexing model of ship gas emissions in port areas.

LNG vs. MDO in Marine Fuel Emissions Tracking

The continuous increase in global maritime freight transport has led to an increase in emissions. The port of Heraklion was selected as a case study to investigate the environmental impact of shipping in wider areas. Two different maritime fuels were examined: the conventional maritime fuel, marine diesel oil (MDO), and an alternative maritime fuel, liquified natural gas (LNG). To carry out this study, real data from the port of Heraklion, the Lloyd’s Register Fairplay (LRF) Sea-Web database, and literature reviews were used. The bottom-up method was adopted for data processing. The results of this study demonstrate that alternative maritime fuels, such as LNG, could drastically reduce SO2, NOx, PM, and CO2 emissions.

Estimation of the Efficiency of Vessel Speed Reduction to Mitigate Gas Emission in Busan Port Using the AIS Database

To mitigate marine atmospheric pollution causing greenhouse gas (GHG) and a threat to coastal residents’ health in dense hub port cities, the Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) programs were implemented in the Republic of Korea. Spatial analysis of the efficiency of the VSR programs is essential to monitor and improve the present programs. In the present study, the efficiency of the VSRs from the Busan Port (BP), including North Port (NP) and Gamcheon Port (GP), were analyzed. A bottom-up activity-based approach using automatic identification system (AIS) data was introduced herein for the estimation of spatial marine gas emission in real time. The BP has implemented the VSR program since 2020; thus, this study spatially analyzed marine gas emissions in the areas in 2019 and 2020 to demonstrate the efficiency of VSR. To demonstrate the VSR programs in the aspect of the comparison of gas emissions in each year, the total annual fuel consumption in each year is divided by the total arrival ships’ GT respectively. According to the comparison of the spatial gas emission inventory between two years in the designed area, 19.2% of the annual marine gas emissions per ships’ GT in BP in 2020 were reduced with the implementation of the VSR program. The spatial analysis clearly showed the mitigation of the ships’ gas emissions along the passageway to BP. The spatial analysis of the efficiency of the VSR program will be useful basic data to reflect the local gas emission state on the improvement of the VSR program and newly established environmental regulations.

Spatial Analysis of the Ship Gas Emission Inventory in the Port of Busan Using Bottom-Up Approach Based on AIS Data

Dense hub port-cities have been suffering from ship gas emissions causing atmospheric pollution and a threat to the health of coastal residents. To control ship gas emissions, many regulations have been established internationally. Analyses of ship gas emission inventories are essential to quantify mass and track emission changes over time in a given geographical area. Based on the gas emissions inventory, applicable regulations such as Emission Control Area (ECA) realization and Vessel Speed Reduction (VSR) may be established. The ship gas emission inventory (CO2, CO, NOx, SOx and PM) from the Busan Port (BP), including the North Port (NP) and Gamcheon Dadae-po Port (GDP), which is the biggest port in the Republic of Korea and which is also surrounded by residential, commercial, and industrial areas, were spatially analyzed. To calculate geographical ship gas emissions in real-time, this study introduces a bottom-up methodology using Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. According to the geographical density analysis of the gas emissions inventory, this study highlights that about 35% of the annual ship gas emissions of BP in 2019 were concentrated in the passageway to NP because of high ship speeds when leaving or arriving at the port. To protect the health of coastal residents, ship speed limit regulations along the passageway should be revised based on our spatial analysis results. The spatial analysis of the ship gas emission inventory in BP will be useful basic data for properly evaluating the local gas emission state on newly established or revised environmental regulations for BP.

The Use of Artificial Neural Networks to Determine the Engine Power and Fuel Consumption of Modern Bulk Carriers, Tankers and Container Ships

The 2007–2008 financial crisis, together with rises in fuel prices and stringent pollution regulation, led to the need to update the methods concerning ship propulsion system design. In this article, a set of artificial neural networks was used to update the design equations to estimate the engine power and fuel consumption of modern tankers, bulk carriers, and container ships. Deadweight or TEU capacity and ship speed were used as the inputs for the ANNs. This study shows that even a linear ANN with two neurons in the input and output layers, with purelin activation functions, offers an accurate estimation of ship propulsion parameters. The proposed linear ANNs have simple mathematical structures and are straightforward to apply. The ANNs presented in the article were developed based on the data of the most recent ships built from 2015 to present, and could have a practical application at the preliminary design stage, in transportation or air pollution studies for modern commercial cargo ships. The presented equations mirror trends found in the literature and offer much greater accuracy for the features of new-built ships. The article shows how to estimate CO2 emissions for a bulk carrier, tanker, and container carrier utilizing the proposed ANNs.

Estimating greenhouse gas emissions from ships on four ports of Georgia from 2010 to 2018

This study is a comprehensive inventory of the greenhouse gas emissions from ships in the Georgian ports and aims to analyse the level of exhaust gas emissions in ports. Georgia has four main ports (the Poti Sea Port, the Batumi Port, the Port of Kulevi, and the Port of Supsa) which are a vital link in Georgia's economy and transfer point for handling oil and oil products. The ship activity-based method is used to calculate the emissions of NO_X, CO₂, VOC, PM, and SO₂ from ships between 2010 to 2018 years. The analysis is executed according to the type of ships (container, bulk dry, general cargo, tanker, chemical, liquified gas, and others) and operational modes (cruising, manoeuvring, and hoteling). The total emissions from ports are 54.640, 44.030, 11.910, and 9.206 tonnes per year for Batumi, Poti, Kulevi, and Supsa, respectively. The study indicates that the Batumi Port is the main source of atmospheric pollution in the region followed by the Poti Sea Port. Tanker, general cargo, and container ships are the main polluters at all ports and emit almost 82% of all emissions in the Georgian ports. The greenhouse gas emissions emitted from vessels during the mode of cruising were 82% of the total amount; manoeuvring emissions were 5% and hoteling 13% in operational modes. The environmental costs of ports can reach to €19.1 million or €14.288 per ship call in 2018. The uncertainties of the pollutant emission estimates were measured, with lower bounds of - 12.3 to - 33.9% and upper bound of 10.8 to 30.0% at 95% confidence intervals. The lower uncertainties in the study emphasised the importance of the ship activity-based method in improving ship emission estimates.

An Energy Consumption Approach to Estimate Air Emission Reductions in Container Shipping

Container shipping is the largest producer of emissions within the maritime shipping industry. Hence, measures have been designed and implemented to reduce ship emission levels. IMO’s MARPOL Annex VI, with its future plan of applying Tier III requirements, the Energy Efficiency Design Index for new ships, and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan for all ships. To assist policy formulation and follow-up, this study applies an energy consumption approach to estimate container ship emissions. The volumes of sulphur oxide (SOx), nitrous oxide (NOx), particulate matter (PM), and carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from container ships are estimated using 2018 datasets on container shipping and average vessel speed records generated via AIS. Furthermore, the estimated reductions in SOx, NOx, PM, and CO2 are mapped for 2020. The empirical analysis demonstrates that the energy consumption approach is a valuable method to estimate ongoing emission reductions on a continuous basis and to fill data gaps where needed, as the latest worldwide container shipping emissions records date back to 2015. The presented analysis supports early-stage detection of environmental impacts in container shipping and helps to determine in which areas the greatest potential for emission reductions can be found.

Characterizing the variation of particles in varied sizes from a container truck in a port area

The transportation of container trucks in urban areas not only frequently causes traffic jams but also produces severe air pollution. With regard to this consideration, measurements of particle concentrations and traffic volume on different polluted days were carried out to discover the varied characteristics of particles from container truck transportation in the port area. Based on the original data, descriptive statistics were performed firstly to reveal the statistical characteristics of particle number concentrations (PNC). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test as well as the Anderson-Darling test was adopted to identify the "best-fit" distributions on PNC data while the corresponding maximum likelihood estimation was conducted to estimate the parameters of the identified distribution. Additionally, the Pearson correlation analysis and principal component analysis were performed respectively to reveal the relationships between traffic volume and PNC. The results showed that on a hazy day, PNC levels in the morning were generally higher than those in the afternoon, while on a non-hazy day, the results were opposite. Particles in all sizes on a non-hazy day and larger than 0.5 μm on a hazy day were verified to fit the lognormal distribution. In contrast to the particles below 2 μm, the particles above 2 μm exhibited higher correlations with the traffic flow of a container truck in the morning on a hazy day. These results indicate the importance of reducing air pollution from a container truck and provide policymakers with a foundation for possible measures in a port city.

A Line Ship Emissions while Manoeuvring and Hotelling—A Case Study of Port Split

Strategically, the Republic of Croatia, with its economy focused on tourism, is directly connected to the sea and coastal area, and integrated management of this area contributes to the sustainable development strategy. Worldwide, the problem of atmospheric pollution from maritime traffic is a poorly researched area, especially when this type of traffic is continuously growing. On the example of Port Split, the paper aims to present the following emission, carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOC), sulphur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM) and black carbon, of line vessels during manoeuvring and hotelling phase for 2017, 2018 and 2019. Furthermore, the statistical analysis and appropriate conclusions have been performed on CO2 since all other emissions are linearly dependent. From the analyses in the hotelling and manoeuvring phase of line ships, it can be concluded that during 2019 there was a slight increase in emissions, but overall there was no significant increase in the number of line vessels and increased traffic. The obtained results of case study of port Split provide recommendations leading to further reduction of harmful gas emission, monitoring them, and integrating it into management of urban ports.

Estimation of the Non-Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory from Ships in the Port of Incheon

Nowadays, maritime air pollution is regarded as a severe threat to coastal communities’ health. Therefore, many policies to reduce air pollution have been established worldwide. Moreover, there has been a shift in policy and research attention from greenhouse gases, especially CO2, to other air pollutants. To address the current local environmental challenges, this research analyzes the non-greenhouse gas emissions inventory (CO, NOx, SOx, PM, VOC, and NH3) from ships in the second biggest port in Korea, the Port of Incheon (POI). A bottom-up activity-based methodology with real-time vessel activity data produced by the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is applied to obtain reliable estimations. NOx and SOx dominated the amount of emission emitted from ships. Tankers, general cargo ships, cruise ships, and container ships were identified as the highest sources of pollution. Based on the above results, this study discusses the need for long-term policies, such as the designation of a local emission control area (ECA) and the establishment of an emission management platform to reduce ship-source emissions. Furthermore, this study elucidates that significant emissions come from the docking process, ranging from 33.9% to 42.0% depending on the type of pollutant when only the auxiliary engines were being operated. Therefore, short-term solutions like applying exhausted gas cleaning systems, using on-shore power supplies, reducing docking time, or using greener alternative fuels (e.g., liquefied natural gas or biofuels) should be applied and motivated at the POI. These timely results could be useful for air quality management decision-making processes for local port operators and public agencies.

Effect of Seasonal Flow Field on Inland Ship Emission Assessment: A Case Study of Ferry

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of the seasonal flow field on inland ship emissions and to improve calculation accuracy. Firstly, the flow field model is built through numerical simulation to correct the sailing speed of the ship from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) information in real-time. Then, an optimal emission estimation model for inland ships considering flow field factors is proposed. Finally, the effectiveness of the optimization model is demonstrated by a case study, and the influence of the seasonal flow field on emission calculation is analyzed. It indicates that the calculation results of the model considering the influence of the flow field are more accurate. Without considering the flow field, the results of emission calculations are often underestimated, especially in summer, which shows the importance of incorporating the flow field factors into the calculation of inland ship emissions.

A Study on Emissions from Drayage Trucks in the Port City-Focusing on the Port of Incheon

As a result of growing international trade, port-related emission is a spreading issue for urban areas located near ports, especially, hub port cities where population density is concentrated. The awareness of rapidly increasing drayage trucks moving cargo between the port and its hinterland has motivated the necessity of a detailed look at negative environmental impacts of these truck fleets on the achievement of sustainability goals. This study analyzes emission inventory from trucking activities around the Port of Incheon (POI), especially focusing on major air pollutants, and suggests ideas to support establishing new policies in port area. Data on the number of truck, the year of production, the type of fuel, etc. during 2018 were collected from Incheon Port Security and Korea Transport Safety Authority. A bottom-up methodology is applied based on guideline from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As results, the major role of drayage truck fleets to local air pollution was highlighted with the high contribution of CO and NOx emissions. Hence, this study suggested the establishment of Emission Control Area (ECA) and Affected Zone on the landside as well as implementing Integrated Information System and Truck Appointment System to reduce congestion at gate, limit the number of emissions and minimize negative impacts to local community.

Uncovering CO2 Emissions Patterns from China-Oriented International Maritime Transport: Decomposition and Decoupling Analysis

Given that most commodity transportation depends on the maritime industry, the growing economy and increasing international trade volume are expected to accelerate the development of shipping activities and thus increase associated CO2 emissions. In order to identify the driving factors of CO2 emissions from China’s international shipping and find efficient mitigation strategies, this paper first estimates the CO2 emissions and presents the CO2 emissions features from 2000 to 2017. Second, the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method is applied to decompose the changes in CO2 emissions. Finally, the decoupling index is introduced to quantitatively examine the decoupling relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions. The factors affecting the decoupling relationship are analyzed according to the LMDI results. The results indicate that CO2 emissions in maritime transport activities have experienced rapid growth during the study period. Economic growth appears to be the principal factor driving the CO2 emissions growth, whereas the overall effects of energy intensity and the commodity structure play a significant role in inhibiting CO2 emissions. The decoupling state over the study period has experienced four decoupling stages, with a distinct tendency towards weak decoupling. Economic activity has proven to be the most significant indicator influencing the decoupling relationship during the study period.

Environmental and social valuation of shipping emissions on four ports of Portugal

Maritime sector is expected to continue growing significantly in line with world trade, however its impacts on environmental, social and human health are not yet fully known. Thus, this study aimed to estimate the external costs of in-port shipping emissions (NO_x, SO₂, CO₂, VOCs and PM_2.5) and accomplish a comprehensive eco-efficiency evaluation of four ports in Portugal (Leixões, Setúbal, Sines and Viana do Castelo) during 2013. External costs were based on the external cost factors from BeTa, CAFE and NEEDS projects and from Song (2014). Eco-efficiency evaluation was based on environmental, social and economic criteria. Results showed higher externalities for Sines and Setúbal (2.0E+02 million €), followed by Leixões (1.8E+02 million €), and Viana do Castelo (6.3 million €). NO_x, SO₂, and PM_2.5 were the pollutants with the highest externalities. Sines port showed the best overall eco-efficiency. Although Setúbal port showed higher performance than Viana do Castelo port based on the economic data, when social and environmental aspects were considered the results changed. This shows the importance of performing a more comprehensive analysis using social and environmental indicators. The combination of all these indicators is highly important to support the implementation of policies for the abatement of shipping in-port emissions.

Dynamic Modeling of a Hybrid Propulsion System for Tourist Boat

Interest in designing more efficient and versatile ships comes from increasingly stringent regulations on emissions. In this context, a possible solution to overcome these limits may be the replacement of marine propulsion systems based on diesel engines with hybrid architectures. This paper provides a dynamic analysis of a hybrid marine propulsion system (HPS) consisting of an internal combustion engine and an electric engine coupled with a battery pack. A dynamic simulation of a daily working cycle was carried out based on a real load demand. The instantaneous behavior of each component was evaluated. A brief summary of the HPS performance, varying the battery pack capacity, was provided together with an estimation of its impact on the system efficiency. Referring to this last point, the adoption of a hybrid system has permitted a decrease in the specific consumption, on a given route, of about 2% with respect to the case where the propulsion is entrusted only to the diesel engine.

A system dynamics model of China's electric power structure adjustment with constraints of PM10 emission reduction

Recently, Chinese state environmental protection administration has brought out several PM10 reduction policies to control the coal consumption strictly and promote the adjustment of power structure. Under this new policy environment, a suitable analysis method is required to simulate the upcoming major shift of China's electric power structure. Firstly, a complete system dynamics model is built to simulate China's evolution path of power structure with constraints of PM10 reduction considering both technical and economical factors. Secondly, scenario analyses are conducted under different clean-power capacity growth rates to seek applicable policy guidance for PM10 reduction. The results suggest the following conclusions. (1) The proportion of thermal power installed capacity will decrease to 67% in 2018 with a dropping speed, and there will be an accelerated decline in 2023-2032. (2) The system dynamics model can effectively simulate the implementation of the policy, for example, the proportion of coal consumption in the forecast model is 63.3% (the accuracy rate is 95.2%), below policy target 65% in 2017. (3) China should promote clean power generation such as nuclear power to meet PM10 reduction target.

The activity-based methodology to assess ship emissions - A review

Several studies tried to estimate atmospheric emissions with origin in the maritime sector, concluding that it contributed to the global anthropogenic emissions through the emission of pollutants that have a strong impact on hu' health and also on climate change. Thus, this paper aimed to review published studies since 2010 that used activity-based methodology to estimate ship emissions, to provide a summary of the available input data. After exclusions, 26 articles were analysed and the main information were scanned and registered, namely technical information about ships, ships activity and movement information, engines, fuels, load and emission factors. The larger part of studies calculating in-port ship emissions concluded that the majority was emitted during hotelling and most of the authors allocating emissions by ship type concluded that containerships were the main pollutant emitters. To obtain technical information about ships the combined use of data from Lloyd's Register of Shipping database with other sources such as port authority's databases, engine manufactures and ship-owners seemed the best approach. The use of AIS data has been growing in recent years and seems to be the best method to report activities and movements of ships. To predict ship powers the Hollenbach (1998) method which estimates propelling power as a function of instantaneous speed based on total resistance and use of load balancing schemes for multi-engine installations seemed to be the best practices for more accurate ship emission estimations. For emission factors improvement, new on-board measurement campaigns or studies should be undertaken. Regardless of the effort that has been performed in the last years to obtain more accurate shipping emission inventories, more precise input data (technical information about ships, engines, load and emission factors) should be obtained to improve the methodology to develop global and universally accepted emission inventories for an effective environmental policy plan.

Assessment of shipping emissions on four ports of Portugal

In the last few years, ship emissions have attracted growing attention in the scientific community. The main reason is the constant increase of marine emissions over the last twenty years due to the intensification of port traffic. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate ship emissions (PM₁₀, PM_2.5, NO_x, SO₂, CO, CO₂, N₂O CH₄, NMVOC, and HC) through the activity-based methodology in four of the main ports of Portugal (Leixões, Setúbal, Sines and Viana do Castelo) during 2013 and 2014. The analysis was performed according to ship types (bulk carrier, container, general cargo, passenger, Ro-Ro cargo, tanker and others) and operational modes (manoeuvring, hotelling and during cruising). Results indicated that tankers were the largest emitters in two of the four analysed ports. Regarding cruising emissions, container ships were the largest emitters. . CO₂, NO_x and SO₂ estimated emissions represented more than 95% of the cruising and in-port emissions. Results were also compared with the total national emissions reported by the Portuguese Environment Agency, and if the in-port emissions estimated in the present study would have been taken into account to these totals, emissions of NO_x and SO₂ would increase 15% and 24% in 2013 and 16% and 28% in 2014. Summing up ships seem to be an important source of air pollution, mainly regarding NO_x and SO₂.

Long-term trends in airborne SO2 in an air quality monitoring station in Seoul, Korea, from 1987 to 2013

Atmospheric concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) was intermittently measured at an air quality monitoring (AQM) station in the Yong-san district of Seoul, Korea, between 1987 and 2013. The SO₂ level was compared with other important pollutants concurrently measured, including methane (CH₄), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O₃), and particulate matter (PM₁₀). If split into three different periods (period 1, 1987-1988, period 2, 1999-2000, and period 3, 2004-2013), the respective mean [SO₂] values (6.57 ± 4.29, 6.30 ± 2.44, and 5.29 ± 0.63 ppb) showed a slight reduction across the entire study period. The concentrations of SO₂ are found to be strongly correlated with other pollutants such as CO (r = 0.614, p = 0.02), which tracked reductions in reported emissions due to tighter emissions standards enacted by the South Korean government. There was also a clear seasonal trend in the SO₂ level, especially in periods 2 and 3, reflecting the combined effects of domestic heating by coal briquettes and meteorological conditions. Although only a 16% concentration reduction was achieved during the 27-year study duration, this is significant if one considers rapid urbanization, an 83.2% increase in population, and rapid industrialization that took place during that period.

IMPLICATIONS

Since 1970, a network of air quality monitoring (AQM) stations has been operated by the Korean Ministry of Environment (KMOE) for routine nationwide monitoring of air pollutant concentrations in urban/suburban areas. To date, the information obtained from these stations has provided a platform for analyzing long-term trends of major pollutant species. In this study, we examined the long-term trends of SO₂ levels and relevant environmental parameters monitored continuously in the Yong-san district of Seoul between 1987 and 2013. The data were analyzed over various time scales (i.e., monthly, seasonal, and annual intervals). The results obtained from this study will allow us to assess the effectiveness of abatement strategy and to predict future concentrations trends in association with future abatement strategies and technologies.