Opportunity knocks
Posted on | December 20, 2009 | 1 Comment
Whatever any one thinks of the Copenhagen talks, alongside the recriminations and bad language, there has been opportunities for many people, who will see in this expansion of environmental awareness, the incentives they need to progress.
Let’s forget the various traders in carbon and concentrate on something rather more worthwhile, such as the engineers and technologists who, rather than the scientists, really will make the difference.
Speaking last week at a Maritime London gathering, Lloyd’s Register’s Marine Director Tom Boardley was able to give only a range of options, which might emerge from the Cop 15 chaos, as it was still work in progress.
But he was clear about the opportunities presented to his organisation by the perceived need for cleaner, greener ships. And all over the world of marine technology, bright people are considering how ships can be made more efficient, how to make the expensive fuel go further, and how to minimise the impact that a ship makes upon the environment.
There is a whole raft of improvement that can be made in the realms of fuel management, while engine manufacturers are already well advancd in the reduction of harmful emissions through a whole range of measures that will produce fewer of these gases without sacrificing speed. Thereare all sorts of improvements that seem possible and which will aggregate to substantial reductions in the environmental footprint, from hydrodynamic enhancements, to the vast arrays of solar panels on the garage roof of a large car carrier. Better paints, smoother underwater forms, more efficient propellers – it all will help.
On the operational front, there is a huge amount that can be done, and to existing ships, moreover, to smarten up charters so that ships do not steam at high speed between ports, only to wait ages for a berth at the destination. Last week there were more than 40 large bulk carriers swinging around their anchors off the New South Wales port of Newcastle, which is not known for its brilliant holding ground. How much wasted effort is encapsulated in that simple statement of fact?
There is, says Boardley, a new interest in the concept of the nuclear merchant ship, which might surprise some people and enrage others, but has a good deal of economic and environmental sense in the idea, of a merchant ship that will need refuelling but once in its operational life.
And then there is recycling, and a vast tonnage of ships which are less efficient and more expensive to operate, and which could be suitably disposed of. It is all grist to somebody’s mill, and will cheer up shipbuilders no end, even though the more hopeful are already offering“greener” ships! And really, nobody had to wait for the politicians to unravel something meaningful from Cop 15. It is there for the asking.
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April 14th, 2010 @ 5:43 pm
Imagine the costs to the owner of recycling a nuclear propelled ship (reactor removal and decontamination ?), and where would it be don ?. Remove the reactor in US/US/Japan and tow the hull to India ? Greenpeace will have a field day when they get hold of this scenario….