CO2 index: matching the dredging industry's needs to IMO legislation
Type:
Presented during:
CEDA Dredging Days 2009 - Dredging Tools for the Future, Rotterdam
Authors:
van de Ketterij RG - IHC Merwede - MTI Holland, The Netherlands; Stapersma D - Delft University of Technology and Netherlands Defense Academy, The Netherlands; Kramers CHM and Verheijen LTG - IHC Dredgers, The Netherlands
Abstract: The European Union (EU) has set very challenging targets for reduction of energy consumption and related emission of greenhouse gasses. This is one of the key drivers for the Maritime Environmental Protection Committee of IMO to develop measures to reduce the emission CO2. One of the tools is the development of a CO2 index as means to indicate the CO2 emissions of merchant ships. This index was renamed at MEPC 58 into energy efficiency design index (EEDI).
IMO is forced to produce an integrated package of measurements to reduce CO2 emissions from ships, including an operational index, a design index and a market-oriented tool imposing some sort of tax on CO2 emissions. As a result of policy by EU an energy efficiency design index will become effective in short notice. This can be a derivative of the EEDI as proposed last year, but if IMO fails to produce and adopt regulation in 2009, EU will come up with her own index in short notice.
The effects of these developments are significant. In the near future shipowners will obtain limited CO2 emission rights per annum, which will strongly decrease in time. Costs of acquiring emission are significant, effectively increasing fuel costs, and will progressively increase in time. It is also likely that EEDI will determine where and when dredgers are allowed to operate in the EU and other important dredging sites. An EEDI that reflects the actual fuel consumption by a dredging activity is therefore of the upmost importance.
The EEDI which is subject of discussion within IMO does not reflect energy consumption of most vessels that are being constructed in Western Europe in general and of dredging equipment in particular. Even worse, the EEDI may have a negative impact on attempts to improve energy efficiency onboard dredgers!
As a result of several efforts dredgers have been excluded from the EEDI during MEPC59 which is on the table at IMO. Moreover, the EEDI formulation underwent important changes. In this paper we first describe how an EEDI for dredgers may be built-up, based upon the actual energy consumption of most important consumers.
The dredging cycle plays an important role in energy consumption. In the paper we will first describe the economic impact of CO2 emission trade. Next we focus on the EEDI, explain the proposal of 2008, submitted during MEPC58 by IMO and our objections. We will also discuss the 2009 adoptions during MEPC59. We finally describe our proposal for a Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger specific EEDI, including a 'standard' dredging cycle that we propose to be used for comparison of the energy efficiency of different trailing suction hopper dredger designs. We aim at an EEDI that can be used by both builders and dredging companies.
Keywords: CO2 index, levy, energy consumption, dredging cycle