The impact of nitrogen and sulfur emissions from shipping on the exceedance of critical loads in the Baltic Sea region

The emissions of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) species to the atmosphere from shipping significantly contribute to S and N deposition near the coast and to acidification and/or eutrophication of soils and freshwater. In the countries around the Baltic Sea, the shipping volume and its relative importance as a source of emissions are expected to increase if no efficient regulations are implemented. To assess the extent of environmental damage due to ship emissions for the Baltic Sea area, the exceedance of critical loads (CLs) for N and S has been calculated for the years 2012 and 2040. The paper evaluates the effects of several future scenarios, including the implementation of NECA and SECA (Nitrogen And Sulfur Emission Control Areas). The implementation of NECA and SECA caused a significant decrease in the exceedance of CLs for N as a nutrient while the impact on the – already much lower – exceedance of CLs for acidification was less pronounced. The relative contribution from Baltic shipping to the total deposition decreased from 2012 in the 2040 scenario for both S and N. In contrast to exceedances of CLs for acidification, shipping still has an impact on exceedances for eutrophication in 2040. Geographically, the impact of shipping emissions is unevenly distributed even within each country. This is illustrated by calculating CL exceedances for 21 Swedish counties. The impact, on a national level, is driven by a few coastal counties, where the impact of shipping is much higher than the national summary suggests

Perspectives on shipping emissions and their impacts on the surface ocean and lower atmosphere: An environmental-social-economic dimension

Shipping is the cornerstone of international trade and thus a critical economic sector. However, ships predominantly use fossil fuels for propulsion and electricity generation, which emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and air pollutants such as particulate matter, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds. The availability of Automatic Information System (AIS) data has helped to improve the emission inventories of air pollutants from ship stacks. Recent laboratory, shipborne, satellite and modeling studies provided convincing evidence that ship-emitted air pollutants have significant impacts on atmospheric chemistry, clouds, and ocean biogeochemistry. The need to improve air quality to protect human health and to mitigate climate change has driven a series of regulations at international, national, and local levels, leading to rapid energy and technology transitions. This resulted in major changes in air emissions from shipping with implications on their environmental impacts, but observational studies remain limited. Growth in shipping in polar areas is expected to have distinct impacts on these pristine and sensitive environments. The transition to more sustainable shipping is also expected to cause further changes in fuels and technologies, and thus in air emissions. However, major uncertainties remain on how future shipping emissions may affect atmospheric composition, clouds, climate, and ocean biogeochemistry, under the rapidly changing policy (e.g., targeting decarbonization), socioeconomic, and climate contexts

Perspectives on shipping emissions and their impacts on the surface ocean and lower atmosphere: An environmental-social-economic dimension

Shipping is the cornerstone of international trade and thus a critical economic sector. However, ships predominantly use fossil fuels for propulsion and electricity generation, which emit greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, and air pollutants such as particulate matter, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds. The availability of Automatic Information System (AIS) data has helped to improve the emission inventories of air pollutants from ship stacks. Recent laboratory, shipborne, satellite and modeling studies provided convincing evidence that ship-emitted air pollutants have significant impacts on atmospheric chemistry, clouds, and ocean biogeochemistry. The need to improve air quality to protect human health and to mitigate climate change has driven a series of regulations at international, national, and local levels, leading to rapid energy and technology transitions. This resulted in major changes in air emissions from shipping with implications on their environmental impacts, but observational studies remain limited. Growth in shipping in polar areas is expected to have distinct impacts on these pristine and sensitive environments. The transition to more sustainable shipping is also expected to cause further changes in fuels and technologies, and thus in air emissions. However, major uncertainties remain on how future shipping emissions may affect atmospheric composition, clouds, climate, and ocean biogeochemistry, under the rapidly changing policy (e.g., targeting decarbonization), socioeconomic, and climate contexts

GC-MS analyses and chemometric processing to discriminate the local and long-distance sources of PAHs associated to atmospheric PM2.5

Purpose . This study presents a procedure to differentiate the local and remote sources of particulate-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Methods. Data were collected during an extended PM2.5 sampling campaign (2009–2010) carried out for 1 year in Venice-Mestre, Italy, at three stations with different emissive scenarios: urban, industrial, and semirural background. Diagnostic ratios and factor analysis were initially applied to point out the most probable sources. In a second step, the areal distribution of the identified sources was studied by applying the discriminant analysis on factor scores. Third, samples collected in days with similar atmospheric circulation patterns were grouped using a cluster analysis on wind data. Local contributions to PM2.5 and PAHs were then assessed by interpreting cluster results with chemical data. Results. Results evidenced that significantly lower levels of PM2.5 and PAHs were found when faster winds changed air masses, whereas in presence of scarce ventilation, locally emitted pollutants were trapped and concentrations increased. This way, an estimation of pollutant loads due to local sources can be derived from data collected in days with similar wind patterns. Long-range contributions were detected by a cluster analysis on the air mass back-trajectories. Results revealed that PM2.5 concentrations were relatively high when air masses had passed over the Po Valley. However, external sources do not significantly contribute to the PAHs load. Conclusions. The proposed procedure can be applied to other environments with minor modifications, and the obtained information can be useful to design local and national air pollution control strategies

Flygets påverkan på klimat och åtgärdsstrategier för dess minskning : Litteraturgenomgång inom förstudie OP-FLYKLIM

OPFLYKLIM (Optimering av flygrutter för minskad klimatpåverkan) är en nyligen avslutad förstudie finansierad av Trafikverkets forsknings- och innovationsportfölj för 41057. Förstudien har kartlagt kunskapsläget inom flera områden som har betydelse för möjligheterna att minska flygets klimatpåverkan. Målet var att ge en samlad bild av kunskapsläget kring hur flygets utsläpp, inklusive introducerade k-strimmor och cirrusmoln, påverkar klimatet, och om möjligheten att minska flygets klimatpåverkan genom alternativa flygrutter vilket i framtiden kan leda till att minska klimatpåverkan från svensk flygtrafik. Dessutom har man inom förstudien sammanfattat hur man i Europa börjat använda information från flygledningssystem för att förbättra väderprognoser. Vidare har för en testperiod flygledningsdata levererats från Luftfartsverket till SMHI och man har vid SMHI visat att man kan hantera dessa data och använda dem i väderprognosmodellen man använder. Ett naturligt nästa steg är att komma överens om formerna för att etablera en realtidsdataström av flygledningsdata från Luftfartsverket till SMHI. Förstudien har levererat en rapport i form av en sammanställning av kunskapsläget kring flygets utsläpp och en rapport rörande nyttjande av flygledningsdata i Europa samt första studier vid SMHI. Dessutom har vi inom förstudien haft en arbetsdag rörande väderbaserad flygoptimering med representanter från IVL, SMHI, Swedavia, Luftfartsverket, Chalmers tekniska högskola samt flygbolaget NOVAIR.Optimering av flygrutter för minskad klimatpåverkan OP-FLYKLIM, förstudi

Förutsättningar för kommande forskningsprojekt rörande Förbättrad flygledning och optimering med stöd av meteorolgisk data leveransrapport 3

OPFLYKLIM (Optimering av flygrutter för minskad klimatpåverkan) är en nyligen avslutad förstudie finansierad av Trafikverkets forsknings- och innovationsportfölj för 41057. Förstudien har kartlagt kunskapsläget inom flera områden som har betydelse för möjligheterna att minska flygets klimatpåverkan. Målet var att ge en samlad bild av kunskapsläget kring hur flygets utsläpp, inklusive introducerade k-strimmor och cirrusmoln, påverkar klimatet, och om möjligheten att minska flygets klimatpåverkan genom alternativa flygrutter vilket i framtiden kan leda till att minska klimatpåverkan från svensk flygtrafik. Dessutom har man inom förstudien sammanfattat hur man i Europa börjat använda information från flygledningssystem för att förbättra väderprognoser. Vidare har för en testperiod flygledningsdata levererats från Luftfartsverket till SMHI och man har vid SMHI visat att man kan hantera dessa data och använda dem i väderprognosmodellen man använder. Ett naturligt nästa steg är att komma överens om formerna för att etablera en realtidsdataström av flygledningsdata från Luftfartsverket till SMHI. Förstudien har levererat en rapport i form av en sammanställning av kunskapsläget kring flygets utsläpp och en rapport rörande nyttjande av flygledningsdata i Europa samt första studier vid SMHI. Dessutom har vi inom förstudien haft en arbetsdag rörande väderbaserad flygoptimering med representanter från IVL, SMHI, Swedavia, Luftfartsverket, Chalmers tekniska högskola samt flygbolaget NOVAIR.Optimering av flygrutter för minskad klimatpåverkan OP-FLYKLIM, förstudi

Impact of the 0.1% fuel sulfur content limit in SECA on particle and gaseous emissions from marine vessels

Emissions were measured on-board a ship in the Baltic Sea, which is a sulfur emission control area (SECA), before and after the implementation of the strict fuel sulfur content (FSC) limit of 0.1 m/m% S on the 1st of January 2015. Prior to January 2015, the ship used a heavy fuel oil (HFO) but switched to a low-sulfur residual marine fuel oil (RMB30) after the implementation of the new FSC limit. The emitted particulate matter (PM) was measured in terms of mass, number, size distribution, volatility, elemental composition, content of organics, black and elemental carbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), microstructure and micro-composition, along with the gaseous emissions at different operating conditions. The fuel change reduced emissions of PM mass up to 67%. The number of particles emitted remained unchanged and were dominated by nanoparticles. Furthermore, the fuel change resulted in an 80% reduction of SO2 emissions and decreased emissions of total volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The emissions of both monoaromatic and lighter polyaromatic hydrocarbon compounds increased with RMB30, while the heavy, PM-bound PAH species that belong to the carcinogenic PAH family were reduced. Emissions of BC remained similar between the two fuels. This study indicates that the use of low-sulfur residual marine fuel oil is a way to comply with the new FSC regulation and will reduce the anthropogenic load of SO2 emissions and secondary PM formed from SO2. Emissions of primary particles, however, remain unchanged and do not decrease as much as would be expected if distilled fuel was used. This applies both to the number of particles emitted and some toxic components, such as heavy metals, PAHs or elemental carbon (EC). The micro-composition analyses showed that the soot particles emitted from RMB30 combustion often do not have any trace of sulfur compared with particles from HFO combustion, which always have a sulfur content over 1%m/m. The soot sulfur content can impact aging and cloud condensation properties. This study is an in-depth comparison of the impact of these two fuels on the emissions of particles as well as their composition and microstructure. To evaluate the impact of the use of low-sulfur residual marine fuel oils on emissions from ships, additional research is needed to investigate the varied fuel types and compositions as well as the wide range of engine conditions and properties