Browse by topic: Air Pollution, Climate Change and Energy

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Opposition that risks having no clean future for liquid transport fuels

Opinion by Jos Dings - T&E director
People who follow our work – and Europe’s environmental policy – a little bit will have noticed that two fuels-related draft laws keep dragging on without any apparent progress. The first one is what to do about indirect land use change effects of biofuels (key words: Iluc, biodiesel). The second is whether or not to give petrol and diesel from unconventional fossil sources a higher lifecycle greenhouse gas default value (key words: fuel quality directive, tar sands).

Slowing down ships saves emissions and money ... and works instantly

Slowing down ships by regulating slow steaming can make a massive difference to the environmental impact of sea transport, and save ship operators lots of money. These are the conclusions of a report by the Dutch consultancy CE Delft commissioned by T&E and Seas At Risk.

Smarter trucks: better, not bigger

The European Commission is considering a change in the interpretation of its legislation on so-called megatrucks. Under the new interpretation, the cross-border circulation of megatrucks, which is currently prohibited, would be allowed. This decision would have a negative impact on road safety and infrastructure and would drastically impact on the competitive position of the rail freight sector, without any benefits for the environment.

Briefing

Ship speed limits are legal and save fuel

Sketch of some documents (default image for news

Requiring ships to slow down is an environmentally beneficial option that is both legal and does not damage ships. These were just some of the findings to emerge from a seminar earlier this month organised by T&E and another NGO, Seas at Risk.

Cleaner ship fuels – it’s about time!

Opinion
By Kerstin Meyer - T&E senior campaigner

It seemed the wrong way round when the Commission came under heavy lobby-fire earlier this year over the issue of new sulphur limits for marine fuel. Typically when it comes to international areas like shipping, industry lobbyists always call for an international agreement instead of European legislation. Since these international bodies tend to work extremely slowly that usually means nothing really happens for the next 10 or 20 years, but in this case that was not true. In 2008 the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) agreed some fairly substantial air pollution rules. And now the shipping industry is calling on European policy-makers to ignore the agreement and set their own – weaker – standards.

Seminar on slow steaming and speed limits for shipping

When?:

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - 09:30 to 16:30

Where?:

EUROCITIES

Square de Meeûs 1

B-1000 Brussels

Belgium

Setting mandatory global and regional speed limits for shipping is legally and technically feasible and does not require major administrative and economic burdens for enforcement. Reduced speed results in dramatic reductions in ship emissions - CO2, air pollution and particulates - and does not pose technical, operational or safety dangers. These were the main conclusions of a 4 October seminar on ship speed limits organised in Brussels by Transport & Environment and Seas at Risk.

Shipping becomes first industry with global climate standard

Shipping has become the first industry to agree a global carbon dioxide reduction strategy. This month’s vote at the International Maritime Organisation approved the establishment of an Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) for new ships. T&E welcomed the decision, but says it cannot be seen as a solution on its own, especially because the EEDI will take many years to be truly effective.

President rejects LEZ law

The Czech president Vaclav Klaus has intervened to stop the Czech Republic introducing low-emissions zones.

NGOs welcome Commission’s proposal to clean up shipping as important first step

The European Commission last week proposed stricter controls on dangerous sulphur in ship fuel [1] Environmental NGOs welcomed what they described as a long overdue proposal, which will bring the EU in line with the standards agreed by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) 3 years ago.

Crucial IMO vote on cutting shipping emissions needs EU action now

The Clean Shipping Coalition (CSC) is calling on six European countries to ratify a crucial piece of marine environmental legislation, in order to enable their participation at a crucial vote on energy efficiency standards for ships at a meeting of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) this Summer.

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