Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/814533
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 APRIL 2017 16 News Cruise liners: lucrative but poisoning business JURGEN BALZAN SHIPPING, including the lucrative cruise liner industry, is one of the major causes of pollution in Malta, a recent study confirmed. The giant ships and thousands of tourists swarming out of them has become an every day sight in Val- letta, but there is more to it than meets the eye. A measuring exercise carried out in December 2016 in Valletta and Birgu by a number of organi- sations, including BirdLife Malta, showed that concentrations of ul- trafine particles in the ambient air during the time ships were transit- ing are 80 times higher than clean air levels expected of areas not ex- posed to any pollution sources. According to the National Statis- tics Office, shipping creates 15% of Malta's Greenhouse Gas emissions caused by the transport sector, which itself is the major contribu- tor with over 90% of Malta's emis- sions coming from vehicles, ships and aircraft. Scientific data on the extent of air pollution caused by ships in Malta is not currently available, chiefly due to a lack of awareness on air pollution caused by ship traffic. The cruise liner industry is often lauded as one of the key pillars in the tourism sector. Cruise ship- ping movements in Malta have steadily increased over the past few years with 316 ships berthing in the Grand Harbour in 2016. In the same year, cruise ship passen- gers stood at 626,082, a rise of 4.3% in comparison to 2015. In Malta, data measured by the air quality monitoring stations are not able to distinguish between emissions from ships and other sources and the monitoring sta- tion in Kordin, which is closest to the Grand Harbour no longer measures data. A member of the project team told MaltaToday that "because of Malta's small size, it can be as- sumed that a major part of the is- land is affected by the above-men- tioned impacts." Janina Laurant said this adds on to Malta's significant air pollu- tion caused by traffic, energy gen- eration and industry, identified as major concerns to the environ- ment and health under the Stra- tegic Plan for Environment and Development (SPED). Laurant told MaltaToday that air measurements from monitoring stations should be carried out at suitable locations as per air qual- ity standards under the EU. "For Malta, we would recommended to install a monitoring station at a strategic location near to the Port of Valletta. With suitable equip- ment, this would assist in gain- ing scientific data of air pollution caused by marine traffic in the area," she said. Running engines of ships con- tribute considerably to global and local emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NO ) and particulate matter (PM). The latter includes soot emissions (black car- bon) which are in particular harm- ful to health and climate. During a typical 10-hour stay in a harbour, one single cruise liner produces about 66 tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of what 6 Hummers produce in a year. Nitrogen oxide emissions dimin- ish the function of the lungs and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Nitrogen oxide is also a powerful greenhouse gas causing climate warming due to its contri- bution in the formation of ozone. High concentrations of ozone in cities is responsible for the death of elderly people and people with poor health conditions. Emissions of sulphur oxides such as sulphur dioxide are harm- ful for our environment, not least because it causes acid rain which leads to the eutrophication of soils and coastal areas and it damages buildings and structures, particu- larly those made of limestone. Air pollutant emissions are further- more responsible for a significant loss of productivity in agriculture and have a negative impact on bio- diversity. Transport kills According to SPED, Malta's Greenhouse Gas emissions in- creased by 54% between 1990 and 2012, the transport sector being the principal contributor with 91.1% in 2012. In terms of CO2, emissions from cars, ships and airplanes have cu- mulatively increased by approxi- mately 16.3% from 2005 levels. The bulk of Greenhouse Gas emissions are the result of fuel combustion from road transporta- tion, which amounted to approxi- mately 83.9% of the transportation sector in 2014. This was followed by emissions from domestic navi- gation, at 15.4% of total transpor- tation emissions and from national aviation, at only 0.6% of total transportation emissions. In terms of the type of green- house gas, CO2 comprises by far the largest share, with 98% of emissions from fuel combustion in the transportation sector. This is followed by nitrous oxide (N20) at 1.7% and methane at 0.3%. Since 1990, GHG emissions from trans- port (in CO2 equivalent), have in- creased by 89.9%. In 2012, the World Health Or- ganization identified that 95% of Europeans living in urban environ- ments are exposed to levels of air pollution considered dangerous to human health and about 420,000 premature deaths are known as a result in the European Union. Counter-measures Asked whether the emissions can be controlled, Laurant said "yes, they can," adding that a number of measures for the shipping sector already exist. "In the scope of our project, we are aiming to identifying together with national stakeholders those which are most suitable for Malta," she said. Among these are political meas- ures such as the reduction of sul- phur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions by establishing so-called emission control areas (ECAs) and the creation of national tailor- made policy frameworks, such as Emission Control in Malta's na- tional waters. Additionally technical measures can be implemented, such as the installation of diesel particulate fil- ters (DPF) on all cruise and ferry ships berthing in Malta, which re- duce soot emissions almost com- pletely. Laurant also recommends the use of selective catalytic reduction sys- tems (SCRs) which eliminate most of the nitrogen oxides from ships exhaust fumes and promoting the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) which reduces the emissions of sul- phur dioxide and PM emissions by up to 99% and of nitrogen oxides by up to 80% for some ships, however, the positive balance in terms of air pollution can be counteracted by escaping methane which is even more harmful then air pollution from the usage of heavy fuel oil. She also said that emissions can be reduced through ecological port fees which would see ships pay their port fees depending on their environmental performance, in- cluding their respective emission balance. "These should motivate ship op- erators to invest more quickly in clean technologies," Laurant said. She added that incentivising cleaner shipping could also lead to bigger use of sea transport in Malta which in turn will reduce pollution caused by cars. Cruise ships often berthing in harbours in close proximity to dense urban areas such as the Grand Harbour contribute massively to air pollution that threatens climate, environment and human health CALL FOR TENDERS As part of the project JUST/2014/RGEN/AG/GEND/7785 – Equality Beyond Gender Roles – the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality is requesting submissions for the provision of: REFERENCE: DT-NCPE/01/2017 TENDER TITLE: Service Tender for the Provision of Events Organization and Coordination for the Project JUST/2014/RGEN/AG/GEND/7785 Equality Beyond Gender Roles Any queries should be sent through e-PPS by not later than Tuesday, 9 th May, 2017 at 4.00 p.m. CET specifying the publication reference and the tender title. A clarification meeting will be held on Wednesday, 3 rd May, 2017 at 10.00 a.m. CET at NCPE premises. Closing date for submission of tenders is Wednesday, 17 th May, 2017 at 1.00 p.m. CET. All submissions should be carried out on the e-PPS https://www.etenders.gov.mt/epps/home.do NCPE, Gattard House, National Road, Blata l-Bajda, HMR 9010 Tel: 2590 3850 Fax: 2590 3851 E-mail: equality@gov.mt Web: www.equality.gov.mt Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020 Project part-financed by the European Union Co-financing rate: 80% EU funds; 20% National Funds Shipping adds on to Malta's significant air pollution caused by traffic, energy generation and industry