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CLEARING THE AIR Emissions are going to become a major source
of concern for shipowners in the months and years ahead. Initially,
it has been the cruise industry that has found itself in the
firing line, but operators of other vessel types are unlikely
to remain unnoticed for much longer. Earlier this year, the Federal
EPA hit six cruise ship companies serving the Alaska market with
Notices of Violation. They alleged that 13 vessels had last year
violated Alaska's Marine Vessel Visible Emission Standards. Ironically,
the Northwest Cruise Ship Association says that most of the notices
were based on data that the cruise lines themselves had gathered
as part of a monitoring program to ensure high levels of environmental
performance. An alternative proposal, from the Juneau
Downtown Neighborhood Community Association called for mandatory
data collection and reporting, something that would call for
legislative action. Cruise industry work group members did not
endorse this proposal. The entire group, however, supported ambient
monitoring for particulates and SOx in the areas of expected
maximum impact. Currently, the ADEC is developing draft
documents on the proposals to "immunize" industry-collected
data and to undertake ambient measurements. Meantime, though,
the EPA has come crashing into the process with its Notices of
Violation. The EPA says its action was taken in response "to
dozens of citizen complaints and media reports of large volumes
of smoke billowing from the stacks of cruise ships." The Bluewater Network says that the Clean
Air Act requires EPA to establish regulations to reduce air pollution
from non-automobile engines that significantly contribute to
pollution in areas with poor air quality. Based on a 1991 study,
says the environmentalist group, EPA determined that the largest
type of ship engines-called "Category 3" engines-were
a "substantial" contributor of important pollutants,
including nitrous oxide (NOx) and particulate matter." The
Bluewater Network believes that MARPOL Annex VI is not enough.
It argues that, "as [it} made clear to EPA before the rule
was finalized, Annex VI is not an enforceable agreement and is
unlikely to be anytime soon. The agreement will only go into
effect when countries responsible for at least 50 percent of
the world's shipping traffic ratify the treaty. So far only two
nations have done so, and they represent only 5 percent of the
world shipping. Although the United States has signed Annex VI,
the Clinton administration has not even asked the Senate for
the necessary permission to ratify it." "EPA's refusal to regulate emissions from these ships is not only illegal, it places an unnecessary obstacle in the way of efforts to improve U.S. air quality," said Martin Wagner, attorney for Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, which brought suit on behalf of Bluewater Network. "While cities work to clean up land-based pollution sources and Californians take their vehicles in for smog checks, unregulated cargo ships, tankers, and cruise ships keep belching pollution into our cities. An unenforceable international treaty does not allow EPA to abandon its responsibility to regulate pollution in the United States." GOING FOR GAS TURBINES DIESEL DESIGN DUEL Carnival Corporation has entered into a
working partnership with the Finnish engine manufacturer Wärtsilä
NSD to develop a smokeless diesel-electric propulsion system
for cruise ships. The design approach being taken is common rail
fuel injection and water injection. He pointed out that because of efficiency,
diesel-electric systems are less taxing on fossil fuel assets
and also emit substantially less carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Daniel Paro, Wärtsilä's group
vice president-technology, says the enviroengine is being created
by combining common rail technology with a direct water injection
system. Common rail technology uses an electronically controlled
method to inject the precise amount of fuel at exactly the right
time, resulting in greater engine operating efficiency and virtually
eliminating smoke emissions. Direct water injection reduces NOx emissions
by spraying water into the combustion chamber to cool it down
immediately prior to injecting the fuel. Cooling down the chamber
reduces NOx formation, which occurs at high temperatures. This,
says Wärtsilä NSD, reduces NOx emission value to the
same level as that from gas turbines. "Our proven methods utilizing MAN
B&W Diesel's Fuel Water Emulsification (FWE) technology allow
our state-of-the-art engines to reduce soot and smoke emissions
to levels which can be only hoped for by this new cooperation,"
asserts MAN B&W. And it says that additional benefits of
FWE technology include reduced emission of nitrogen oxide levels
"far below the IMO standards in effect today," with
no increase in CO2 levels, since fuel-oil consumption levels
are unaffected by the IS specification. MAN B&W says "many years"
of research and testing led it to use FWE after experiencing
"increased smoke generation up to very high service loads"
with direct water injection. The firm says that "direct
injection of significant amounts of water will [also] have a
negative effect upon fuel consumption-potentially 4-5 g/kWh for
a 40-50% NOx reduction." "Prototypes of IS engines have been successfully slow steaming for several years in cruise ships in Alaska--home of the strictest smoke and emission standards on the planet," declares MAN B&W. "The first series IS engines are ready for shipment to customers who demand the industry's leading propulsion and emission performance." ML |
