Promoting clean technology options in shipping

The Business Times 28 Apr 10;

VINCENT WEE looks at how DNV is helping shipping firms adopt more environmentally friendly measures, thus enabling them to cut costs too

THE issue of carbon emissions is one that reaches all aspects of life now and the shipping sector is no exception. And once again the age-old debate about the more obvious aspects of pollution from shipping versus the overall energy efficiency of the industry comes to the fore.

But the fact remains that despite 90 per cent of the world's goods movement being carried by ships, international shipping only accounted for 2.7 per cent of carbon dioxide, 10 per cent to 15 per cent of NOx and 4 per cent to 9 per cent of SOx emissions. Basically, the world economy would grind to a halt without shipping and, despite its scale, is considered to be the most environmentally friendly form of transportation.

The green movement has also become an increasingly important element in shipping as it has with the rest of the world. This factor is exacerbated by the rising price of oil and the economic imperative on the industry to reduce costs.

This can lead to the happy coincidence of more environmentally friendly measures also helping shipowners and operators to save money. Among the leading players helping companies to find the balance between the various demands on them is DNV, which recently set up a dedicated Clean Technology Centre (CTC) in Singapore focused on finding solutions to just these sort of problems.

DNV rightly sees Asia as the world's fastest developing region, expected to account for one-third of world trade by 2020, and as such it is appropriate that they have decided to set up the first of its kind centre in Singapore.

In the same timeframe, Asia will also have 90 per cent of its people living in countries with middle-class status and most of them will be living in megacities and urban areas. So Asian countries are becoming increasingly active in the race to capture a share of the emerging clean technology industry.

Ideal test bed

The company has also been attracted by Singapore's clustering concept which it is also extending to the clean technology area, said DNV chairman and CEO Henrik Madsen. In addition, the highly urban nature of Singapore provides an ideal test bed for urban technology solutions.

Among the specific areas CTC is specifically concentrating on initially in Singapore are sustainable mobility and smart grids. Among the broad areas the CTC will be aiming to work on are renewable energy, cleaner conventional energy, urban solutions and green transport.

In terms of the first two areas, DNV supplies guidelines on design and operation of wave energy converters, provides verification and certification of sustainable biofuels and is working on increasing the operating efficiency of existing power plants by 10 per cent.

DNV works with the world's leading carbon capture and storage (CCS) players on projects in the entire CCS value chain and has released the world's first guidelines for qualification of carbon capture technologies. It is also the second largest professional services firm in the wind power space and certifies 75 per cent of the world's offshore wind projects.

In terms of sustainable cities, DNV provides expertise in providing risk management frameworks for new technology based solutions, technology assessments for investors, helps build understanding and capacity to effectively seize opportunities related to cities and emissions trading, creates renewable energy solutions that are adapted to the urban environment and infrastructure and does materials testing for climate neutrality.

DNV is the top greenhouse gas validator with a 35 per cent market share of all clean development mechanism (CDM) projects globally and also offers a wide portfolio of related services from carbon footprinting to training and risk management of carbon projects.

In the green shipping sphere, DNV is at the forefront of green shipping and offshore design and construction which still enables the industry to meet future regulatory and commercial requirements. It also works with shipowners, operators, yards and financial institutions providing various services from technical qualification of green shipping solutions to due diligence and risk management services for green ship projects.

DNV believes that while shipping has already embarked on a journey to significantly reduce emissions of the most common major pollutants of NOx, SOx and particulate matter (PM), the potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions is still significant. It firmly believes that shipping can achieve carbon neutral growth towards 2030 with no additional costs for the industry.

The ways in which this can be done are through more efficient operations by means such as weather routing systems and speed optimisation, the introduction of more efficient technology through the use of means such as better-designed engines, propellers, hull forms and coatings, a change of fuel usage from the heavy fuel oils being used now to natural gas and later biofuel and fuel cells, improving infrastructure to enable faster turnaround times and increased port capacity and improved cooperation between players, including charterers and owners on contractual issues.

New eco-efficient ship designs which incorporate innovations in all areas such as engine and propulsion, machinery and hull shape can also help to reduce emissions. For example, DNV cited a Maersk Line design for a fleet of 16 new 7,450-TEU ships from Korea's Daewoo yard that is notably different from standard designs.

Various measures such as slow running of the main engine would cut fuel consumption by 3 per cent, a bigger propeller would reduce it by 5 per cent, a custom-made hull designed for a specific route would take 8 per cent off and waste heat recovery would shave off another 9 per cent adding up to total fuel reduction of around 22 per cent and more.

In another example from Maersk Line, slow steaming their vessels and cutting engine loads down to 10 per cent has resulted in savings of up to 20 per cent. While these measures help reduce emissions from the ships, they also help to bring down the fuel bill for the owners thus providing a positive outcome for all.

CTC managing director Bjorn Tore Markussen noted that while governments are beginning to talk more about climate change and a move to more sustainable energy it will still take some time to take effect. The world is in a transition phase now, he explained, and during this time natural gas will play a very important role in the transportation sector especially.

He pointed out that another area with huge potential to cut emissions is to shift to using natural gas as a fuel for short sea and inland waterway shipping in particular. This can produce significant emission reductions compared to using fuel oil. DNV estimates that SOx and PM can be completely cut out while NOx can be reduced by 90 per cent and carbon dioxide by 20 per cent if natural gas is used.

Potential for Asia

Much of the short sea fleet of RoRo vessels, ferries and even offshore supply vessels in Europe is already being transformed to using this green fuel. This holds much potential for Asia where the infrastructure is still underdeveloped and the concept of short sea shipping is not fully understood.

Innovative green port solutions is another area that DNV is focusing on. It has worked with various government bodies and port operators to develop and execute solutions to ports and terminals to help them reduce greenhouse gases, deal with climate change and manage risk. These include investing in research and development on traffic management and port systems and working with international organisations such as the World Ports Climate Initiative.

The key driver for growth for the CTC is to tap into the cleantech ecosystem, said Mr Markussen. This is still very new in Asia and needs an established name such as DNV to provide confidence to asset owners.