Page 27: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2, 2010)

June 2010 www.marinelink.com 27

COLUMN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

Alternative Route

To Achieving Energy Efficiency and Greener Shipping

About the Authors

Simon Burnay (left) is Direc- tor for the Shipping and

Ports Division of BMT AR-

GOSS Ltd.

Del Redvers is Head of Sus- tainability at BMT Group Ltd.

The management of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from shipping has been widely talked about and extensively re- ported on over the past six months. The disappointment of COP 15 and the re- sulting lack of clarity has caused some frustration as well as an increased likeli- hood that there will be a plethora of re- gional and potentially costly regulations to respond to. So with this new set of challenges on the horizon perhaps now is the time to reflect on some of the alter- native ways of promoting energy effi- ciency and greener shipping. Del Redvers and Simon Burnay of the BMT group, experts in corporate sustainability and ship performance matters reflect on how the appropriate deployment of a compre- hensive Energy Management strategy can lead to significantly reduced fuel con- sumption and the associated environ- mental benefits.

Current estimates indicate that ship- ping’s share of global CO2 emissions could increase to 20-30% by 2050. With 90% of global trade carried by sea, this is an issue that cannot be sidestepped. It is important to note that while the emis- sions debate is beneficial for all in terms of reducing the environmental impact, it is sometimes hard to see the plethora of solutions being proposed as anything other than a cost that the shipping indus- try must bear, with little financial bene- fit. Solutions with tangible commercial benefits may provide significantly more leverage to establish the win/win situa- tion that will reduce costs and limit dam- age to the environment.

There are a number of measures that are currently being trialed or introduced more widely that have the potential to achieve the win/win that is required to be successful. New technology can be har- nessed to make ships more fuel efficient through making engines more efficient and increasing hull efficiency.

Perhaps more importantly, technology can be used to measure performance throughout a ship’s life-time and provide a baseline against which improvements can be measured. To quote the eminent physicist and engineer Lord Kelvin: ‘to measure is to know’. Solutions such as

BMT’s SMARTPOWER record and col- late real-time performance data, provid- ing much improved performance data over the standard manual ‘noon’ report- ing process. By measuring, recording and analyzing good quality data it is possible to break down the overall performance into individual components (engine, pro- peller, hull performance), remove any variables, identify where efficiency losses are being introduced into the system and react accordingly.

Changes in operational procedures can also deliver environmental and commer- cially beneficial improvements. While accepting that ultimately, many decisions are driven by the charterer, or factors be- yond the control of the operator of that ship, there is still scope for improvements in voyage planning and speed optimiza- tion. The ‘sprint/loiter’ approach, where a ship proceeds as fast as reasonably pos- sible to its destination and then waits to be unloaded or to receive further orders, has benefits in enabling maintenance time (for example) but has a detrimental effect in terms of fuel efficiency and emissions. By optimizing vessel speed (or ‘slow steaming’) based on knowledge of environmental conditions including