The world's best thinkers on energy and climate
Global shipping must at least halve its emissions by 2050, according to an international deal adopted on Friday. Reaching an agreement on how to achieve this goal will be difficult as countries already challenge many proposed measures, writes Sara Stefanini of Climate Home News. … [Read more...]
Tesla’s much-anticipated electric semi-truck is garnering attention for its futuristic look and zero-emission promise – and it’s part of an innovation trend that is changing the future of trucking, with implications for entire supply chains. United Parcel Service, Anheuser-Busch, Walmart, PepsiCo and J.B Hunt are among the companies rushing to secure orders of Tesla’s trucks, which are expected to be in production in 2019. … [Read more...]
Have you ever seen a truck belching black soot as you drive on the highway and wondered, “isn’t that level of pollution illegal?” We see less and less of that these days, thanks to common sense standards from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that protect us from this harmful, excessive pollution. … [Read more...]
The Danish Straits and Turkish Straits, together transited by a combined volume of more than 5 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2016, are important chokepoints for Europe’s crude oil and petroleum liquids supply. Nearly 59 million b/d of global petroleum and other liquids production moved on maritime routes in 2015. … [Read more...]
Nearly one-third of the 61% of total global petroleum and other liquids production that moved on maritime routes in 2015 transited the Strait of Malacca, the second-largest oil trade chokepoint in the world after the Strait of Hormuz. Petroleum and other liquids transiting the Strait of Malacca increased for the fourth time in the past five years in 2016, reaching 16 million barrels per day (b/d). … [Read more...]
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released its 2017 World Oil Transit Chokepoints report. Chokepoints are narrow channels along widely used global sea routes for oil transport, with some so narrow that restrictions are placed on the size of the vessel that can navigate through them. … [Read more...]
U.S. propane exports have increased significantly over the past three years, but only after market participants worked to overcome several challenges in transporting propane to export customers. After largely overcoming the first challenge of building sufficient export capacity, the next challenge involves economically transporting large quantities of propane over long distances. The current, although likely temporary, solution has resulted in … [Read more...]
In a series of announcements over the weekend and on Monday, the Chinese government took several important steps to control emissions from shipping activities, which until now have been virtually unregulated. Vessels and ports are major sources of the severe air pollution choking many coastal cities in China, which is home to eight of the ten busiest (and most densely populated) port cities in the world in terms of freight volume.First, the … [Read more...]
Barbara Finamore, Senior Attorney and Asia Director, Beijing. Coauthored by Freda Fung and Winslow RobertsonContribution of marine emissions to the total emission profile of Hong Kong, 2012 data/The Prevention and Control of Shipping and Port Air Emissions in ChinaHong Kong has just taken another giant step towards controlling marine emissions, the major source of its domestic air pollution. The Hong Kong Legislative Council has just approved a … [Read more...]
David Pettit, Director, Southern California Air Program, Santa Monica, CAOn January 1, 2015, two sets of regulations became effective to help reduce air pollution: one involving large oceangoing ships and another involving US locomotives.The shipping regulations come from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a body under the United Nations. Thanks in part to hard work by my former NRDC colleague Rich Kassel, the IMO enacted a rule … [Read more...]
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on Association of American Railroads. Note: These carloadings do not include intermodal traffic.U.S. rail traffic, including carloadings of all commodity types, has increased 4.5% through October 2014 compared to the same period in 2013. Crude oil and petroleum products had the second-biggest increase in carloadings through the first 10 months of this year, with these shipments occurring in … [Read more...]
Barbara Finamore, Senior Attorney and Asia Director, BeijingAs President Obama and other Asia-Pacific leaders gather in Beijing for the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, climate change and air pollution will undoubtedly be on the agenda. This summit therefore provides an important opportunity for these leaders to address one of the most significant –and largely unregulated -- sources of toxic air pollutants and black carbon … [Read more...]
Hazardous air pollution not only continues to plague much of China, but is now also stifling Hong Kong, the vibrant city whose Chinese name means “Fragrant Harbour.” Here is the view of Hong Kong that greeted me this weekend. It’s almost as if someone was playing with the air smog simulator developed by APM’s Marketplace by drawing a curtain of smog over one of the world’s most famous skylines. Only the pollution is real and it can’t be … [Read more...]
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