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Ucl Energy Institute News

24 Mar 2024

IMO Progresses MARPOL GHG Chapter

Source: IMO

The IMO’s MEPC 81 meeting, concluded on March 22 with progress made on several fronts but the door left open to a number of risks, including that of architecture, timing, scope of emissions, compliance and enforcement, says consultancy UMAS.A new draft for a chapter in the Annex VI of MARPOL has been initiated titled “Regulations on the IMO net-zero framework”.Whilst, this new chapter is just a framework of subheadings for now, it includes all the elements needed to adopt any of the GHG policy options currently under consideration.

13 Sep 2023

Effectiveness and Equity Boost Needed for IMO Targets

Source: UMAS

In a rare occurrence in the challenging politics of climate change, the IMO’s Revised GHG Strategy, adopted at MEPC 80 in July, represents a significant leap forward in ambition. New analysis by UMAS shows the IMO’s targets correspond to a path between 1.55oC and 1.6oC according to the GHG budget defined by the IPCC.Dr Tristan Smith, Reader at UCL Energy Institute, Director of UMAS, said: “The IMO’s revised strategy sets the scene for the large majority of shipping to have maximised efficiency by 2030 and transitioned away from fossil fuels by 2040.

30 Mar 2023

Headwinds Hamper the Poseidon Principles

Copyright Bojan/AdobeStock

The Poseidon Principles provide a platform for financing shipping’s sustainable future, but the technical guidance underpinning the initiative remains under scrutiny.In July 2023, the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) will consider revising the UN agency’s strategy on greenhouse gas emissions from ships. Moving on from a current target to reduce CO2 emissions from ships by at least 50% by 2050, based on 2008 levels,  influential administrations seek to accelerate towards net-zero or even zero by 2050.

22 Mar 2023

Headwinds for the Poseidon Principles

Copyright zwiebackesser/AdobeStock

The Poseidon Principles provide a platform for financing shipping’s sustainable future, but the technical guidance underpinning the initiative remains under scrutiny.In July 2023, the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) will consider revising the UN agency’s strategy on greenhouse gas emissions from ships. Moving on from a current target to reduce CO2 emissions from ships by at least 50% by 2050, based on 2008 levels, influential


24 Nov 2020

EU Green Finance Rules Leaky for Ships

© Lina / Adobe Stock

Months of EU deliberation to decide which business activities can be marketed as green investments have produced a set of draft standards some finance officials and NGOs say are lax for the polluting shipping sector and challenging for buildings.In other cases, they strike a fair balance, they say.As the European Union pursues regulation to try to deliver the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, a powerful tool in channeling funding over the coming decades will be its financial taxonomy - in other words


03 Jun 2020

UK Startup to Apply Aviation Fuel Tracker for Shipping

Photo by Kinsey on Unsplash

A U.K. startup tracking fuel-use performance in aviation will look to apply its product in the maritime sector in an effort to improve the environmental record of the shipping industry.One of 10 winners of MarRI-UK funding, Signol and its academic partners at University College London’s Energy Institute have been awarded a total of £130,000 ($162,200) for STEAM (Sustainability Through Efficient Actions in Maritime), a project looking to directly change the behavior of ships’ crews


20 Jan 2020

IMO's 2050 Decarbonization Target Has $1 Trillion Pricetag

© Martin Lueke / Adobe Stock

At least $1 trillion of investment in new fuel technology is needed to enable the shipping industry to meet U.N. targets for cuts in carbon emissions by 2050, a study published on Monday showed.The global shipping fleet, which accounts for 2.2% of the world's CO2 emissions, is under pressure to reduce those emissions and other pollution. About 90% of world trade is transported by sea.U.N. shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), aims to reduce the industry's greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050


11 Nov 2019

Tracking Ship Emissions from Space

A new ground-breaking study by University College London (UCL) Energy Institute, Imperial College and the University of Oxford shows how satellite tracking could be used to monitor compliance with the upcoming IMO 0.5% sulfur emission regulations and Emission Control Areas (ECA).Research conducted by their own researchers, UCL Energy and the University of Oxford and published today in Geophysical Research Letters, has unveiled discoveries that appear important on many levels for they describe the impact of shipping emissions on the climate: because fossil fuel emission particles from ships affect the air including by releasing sulfur


20 Oct 2019

Green Shipping Fuels of the Future

Ammonia and hydrogen are promising potential fuels of the future in a de-carbonized shipping industry, which has to switch to alternative, zero carbon fuels in order to meet the targets set out in the initial  International Maritime Organization (IMO) strategy on reduction of GHG emissions from ships, an IMO symposium on sulfur 2020 and alternative fuels heard on Friday (18 October).Setting the scene, IMO's Edmund Hughes said the initial GHG strategy, adopted in 2018, had sent a clear signal that shipping will need to adapt. "We have to change to address global climate change," he said."We have to find new technologies and new fuels if we are to achieve at least 50% reduction in annual GHG emissions from international shipping by 2050


18 Jun 2019

Being Green: Banks Consider CO2 Emissions in Shipping Loans

© Elnur/AdobeStock

A group of leading banks will for the first time include efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions in their decision making when providing shipping company loans, executives said on Tuesday.International shipping accounts for 2.2% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization (IMO), has a long-term goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050.Working with non-profit organisations the Global Maritime Forum, the Rocky Mountain Institute and London University's UCL Energy Institute


17 Jun 2019

Banks Impose Emissions Rule in Ship-Finance

Eleven banks with a combined shipping finance portfolio of $100bn will for the first time integrate climate considerations into lending decisions to incentivize maritime shipping's decarbonization.Named 'the Poseidon Principles', the new rules are a global framework for assessing and disclosing the climate alignment of financial institutions' shipping portfolios, said joint press release from Rocky Mountain Institute, Global Maritime Forum and UCL Energy Institute.Founding Signatories include Citi, Societe Generale, DNB, ABN Amro, Amsterdam Trade Bank, Credit Agricole CIB, Danish Ship Finance, Danske Bank, DVB, ING and Nordea, and represent around 20% of the global ship finance portfolio."As banks


14 Jul 2016

Finalists of Wind Propulsion Innovations Awards

The International Windship Association (IWSA) has announced the shortlist, selected by shipping industry experts, for the inaugural Wind Propulsion Innovation Awards 2016 and voting is now open to everyone to select the winners in three categories – Innovation, Technology User and Research. The Lifetime Achievement Award is a closed vote for IWSA members. The Awards will be presented at a ceremony at the SMM2016 on 8th September 2016 in Hamburg. The Wind Propulsion Innovation Awards were launched by IWSA to recognise pioneering projects and technological innovation in the development of wind propulsion for technically and commercially viable solutions for different vessels across the maritime industry.

24 Apr 2016

CO2 Emissions for Every Ship for Every Hour!

Researchers at UCL Energy Institute use the methodology they developed for the Third IMO GHG Study 2014 and AIS data to estimate emissions from five different ship types and display this in a new interactive map that plots 250 million data points to show the movements of the world’s commercial shipping fleet over the course of the year 2012. The interactive shipping map has been developed by the UCL Energy Institute and London-based data visualisation and digital journalism studio Kiln, and was funded by the European Climate Foundation. It is based on hundreds of millions of individually recorded ship positions; plotting all of these at once shows the extraordinary extent of modern shipping’s reach.

23 Feb 2016

Carbon War Room Launches Shipping Efficiency Advisory Board

Six leaders and influencers from across the shipping industry will join global NGO Carbon War Room’s (CWR’s) Shipping Operation Advisory Board. Their backgrounds span the shipowning, chartering, technical analysis, finance, and academic worlds. The board will lend extensive industry insight and support CWR’s mission to profitably decarbonise the international shipping industry. Galen Hon, Manager, Shipping Operation, Carbon War Room, commented: "Following UNFCCC in Paris, the industry has an obligation to find new and innovative ways to reduce carbon while remaining competitive. With expertise spanning finance, ship operation, classification, data analysis, technology, and software, these individuals are perfectly positioned to identify and evaluate opportunities for innovation and growth.

23 Feb 2016

CWR Launches Shipping Efficiency Advisory Board

Six leaders and influencers from across the shipping industry will join global NGO Carbon War Room’s (CWR’s) Shipping Operation Advisory Board. Their backgrounds span the shipowning, chartering, technical analysis, finance, and academic worlds. The board will lend extensive industry insight and support CWR’s mission to profitably decarbonise the international shipping industry. Galen Hon, Manager, Shipping Operation, Carbon War Room, commented: "We are thrilled to have gathered a group with so much knowledge and experience in shipping. Following UNFCCC in Paris, the industry has an obligation to find new and innovative ways to reduce carbon while remaining competitive.

23 Nov 2015

SSI Urges IMO for Action on Reducing CO2 Emissions

The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (“SSI”), a pioneering coalition of companies from across the global shipping industry, today released - ahead of discussions at COP21, which will be held in Paris from 30th November - a statement calling for the shipping industry to play its part in contributing towards the UNFCCC global CO2 reduction target. The Sustainable Shipping Initiative’s statement on CO2 emissions reads as follows: The Sustainable Shipping Initiative (SSI) calls on the shipping industry to encourage and support the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to act urgently in establishing the timely and progressive frameworks


02 Jun 2015

Norsepower’s Rotor Sail Solution Successfully Tested

Norsepower Oy Ltd. and Bore Ltd today carried out successful sea trial of Norsepower’s Rotor Sail Solution, a new wind propulsion technology for ships. The sea trials, verified by NAPA and supported by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, confirm fuel savings of 2.6% using a single small Rotor Sail on a route in the North Sea. With these fuel savings, the technology has a payback period of 4 years. Based on the trials, Norsepower and Bore believe that a full system on Estraden with two rotors has the potential to deliver 5% efficiency savings on an ongoing basis. Norsepower forecasts savings of 20% for vessels with multiple, large rotors traveling in favourable wind routes. The Norsepower Rotor Sail Solution was installed on the 9,700 DWT Ro-Ro carrier MS Estraden.

08 Mar 2013

'Shipping & Climate' Change: Upcoming IMarEST Lecture

‘Shipping and Climate Change: how Science can aid an industry that emits more CO2 than the UK’ is second in the ‘Sea Changes Lecture Series’. The series, organised by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) in association with University College London (UCL), aims to examine the relationship between marine science, technology and engineering. ‘Shipping and Climate Change: how Science can aid an industry that emits more CO2 than the UK’, will take place in the Sir Ambrose Fleming Lecture Theatre, UCL, London WC1E 7JE on Monday 18 March, 2013. It will be presented by Dr Tristan Smith, UCL Energy Institute