Marine environmental awareness course Emissions to air Overview

Marine environmental awareness course Emissions to air - Overview Name – Date

Emissions to air: Overview Contents 1. Introduction 2. The sky is the limit 3. Six main air pollutants 4. Four main problem areas 5. Role of shipping 2 Photo credits: North Sea Foundation/ Green Award Foundation

1. Introduction Major environmental issue – strict regulations on land Shipping regulations late in time - since 2005 Photo credits: Pro. Sea

Air emissions from ships at relatively high level because: Type of fuel Lifetime of ship engines Photo credits: unknown/Job Orbiso

2. The sky is the limit ± 50 km ± 10 km The atmosphere contains different layers of air Illustration credits: Pro. Sea

Troposphere (0 -10 km) - Where we live - Where ‘the weather’ takes place - Where most pollutants end up Stratosphere (10 -50 km) - Where the ozone layer is - Relatively stable air layer - Little exchange with troposhere Photo credits: NOAA/Pro. Sea

3. Six pollutants CO 2 – carbon dioxide (engine) SOx – sulphur oxides (engine) • examples: SO 2, SO 3. . . • Sulphur (S) in fuel reacts with oxygen (O 2) in air NOx – nitrogen oxides (engine) • examples: NO, NO 2, N 2 O 2. . . • Nitrogen (N 2) in air reacts with oxygen (O 2) in air PM – Particulate Matter (engine) • small particles, such as ash, burned lubricant oil Halons and CFCs (cooling systems) VOCs – Volatile Organic Compounds (cargo-related)

4. Four main problems Acidification Climate change Ozone depletion Air quality Photo credits: unknown/Air Pollution and Climate Secretariat/NOAA’s National Weather Service Collection John Neander/NASA

Problems and pollutants (quiz) Substance CO 2 Climate Change SOx Air quality (smog - health problems) Acidification Climate change NOx Air quality (smog - health problems) Acidification Climate change PM Air quality (health problems) Halons and (H)CFC’s Depletion of ozone layer VOC’s Air quality (potentially carcinogenic)

5. Role of shipping air quality acidification Regional: ozone depletion climate change Global: Photo credits: unknown/Air Pollution and Climate Secretariat/NOAA’s National Weather Service Collection John Neander/NASA

Shipping also contributes to regional air pollution because 70% of shipping activities are within 400 km distance from coast Photo credits: National Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California, Santa Barbara

Questions? 12